


Pan's New Boyfriend

by IndigoSnake



Series: Bra's New Boyfriend [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Age Difference, Aggression, Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Alien Planet, Alien Sex, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality Spectrum, DNA Splicing, End of the World, F/F, F/M, Healthy Relationships, Identity Issues, M/M, Meditation, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Outer Space, Pandemic - Freeform, Polyamory, Resurrection, Self-Esteem Issues, Spaceships, Training, Unethical Experimentation, Unethical Medicine, Wishes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:26:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 221,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25989697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndigoSnake/pseuds/IndigoSnake
Summary: A sequel to Bra's New Boyfriend. Peace has returned to Earth, though it did not come without sacrifice. Pan, now struggling with the loss of a very close friend, realizes that it is quite difficult to find true happiness. Even as she and the Briefs attempt to find the dragon balls, Pan knows that there is a real possibility that she must learn to live without him.
Relationships: Bra Briefs/Son Pan, Bra Briefs/Son Pan/Original Male Character(s), Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Chi-Chi/Original Male Character(s), Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Son Pan/Original Male Character(s), Trunks Briefs/Original Character(s), Videl Satan/Son Gohan
Series: Bra's New Boyfriend [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845559





	1. A Lunch at the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pan enjoys lunch with Auden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Image shown below is what Pan looks like in this story--made in an avatar generator that I happen to adore.

Pan strolled happily down the long, winding dirt path threading through the natural park. She'd been down this trail many times and had with her a good-sized lunch—good-sized for her anyway. Summer was in full swing and the weather was beautiful. No more rain for the next few weeks and only a bright, healthy sun to fill the skies. She eventually came upon a picnic table that was quite out of the way to the typical passerby. She had to walk a ways from the path into the surrounding woods for a short while before coming upon a small clearing where the table sat incredibly stable and unmarred as if it was meant to be there. Its hidden location seemed entirely intentional, though Pan had never seen the like in such parks and it was completely unmarked by signs or any other indication. In fact, she would not have known about it had Auden not told her.

Auden was already sitting there at the wooden picnic table with his comparatively small lunch. She joined him on the other side. His long blond hair was predictably drawn up into a low ponytail and a passing gleam shined over his tidy eyeglasses as he looked up at her. It was warm so he did not wear a suit jacket and that was as undressed as he was willing to be out in public—she'd never seen him with shorts or short-sleeved shirts. He'd simply wear lighter, breathable material. He acknowledged her presence with a single nod and she smiled back wholeheartedly. It was always nice to spend lunch with him.

They'd started sharing lunch together last year and it had become a regular occurrence. It was something she looked forward to everyday—it was something to take her mind off of Malachi's passing. Her life seemed to be defined as before his death and after—she always referred to it as "the incident". After "the incident", she'd struggled with living altogether. Every other thought would return to that moment in time, when she saw him lying lifelessly in that bed. She'd lived alone in her apartment, but it had never bothered her until then. The loneliness had become unbearable. She realized that she was waiting for a call from Malachi so that they could talk about anything like they usually did, but that call would never come, not ever. Pan tried to distract herself with work, but it only helped a little. She felt utterly unfulfilled and each day ended with her wondering what the point of it all was. Her own answers felt half-baked and she knew this was dangerous. She knew she had to reach out to someone.

Auden had called her out of the blue sometime after the funeral. After complete radio silence for months, he had felt the need to contact her. He apologized for the long span of time between when she'd given him her number and when he actually called. His only excuse was that he had simply forgotten. He was reminded when he saw her at the funeral and then had had some difficulty finding the time to call her. A Pan prior to "the incident" would have been beyond upset. It would have been an unforgivable offence, but the current Pan was desperate for some sort of connection with someone so she forgave him and they said a few cordial words to one another. Auden was perhaps the most closed off person she'd ever met and often their conversation would be riddled with awkward silences and Auden apologizing and repeatedly saying that he was not good with such long drawn out dialogue. Some days were better than others when it came to conversation with him. Pan imagined that most wouldn't have the patience for such a person, but she was not particularly choosy at the moment and she liked the man after all. They agreed on a few places to meet for lunch and this was one of them if the weather was nice.

"Another feast?" Auden commented as he watched her take out container after container from her hefty lunch box.

"As always," Pan said with a grin. At work, she was far more concerned with appearance and wouldn't bring nearly as much with her, but with Auden she didn't feel the need to conceal things—she required a large portion of food especially at lunch time if she was going to make it to dinner without starving. "I see you're still on your 'diet'."

Auden's meal seemed more like a snack. It was another variation of a salad which admittedly was colorful with a lot of different ingredients, but it certainly wasn't what she considered a large portion and he would usually have a bottle of water with it. Every once in a while, he'd have some dessert or other extra food item, but like today, the salad was it.

"Just something I threw together," Auden replied—he would always say something to that effect.

He would even have his own vinaigrette or dressing with it and he would claim that he just so happened to have some left over.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a vegetarian."

"The idea of slaving away in a kitchen has never been all that appealing to me and most vegetables take less time to prepare. Out of laziness perhaps, I wound up eating just that."

"So you're not opposed to meat?"

"You've seen me eat that on a few occasions," he reminded her.

Pan shrugged. "Could have just been peer pressure—I'm always the one to suggest fast-food."

"Peer pressure," he repeated, "I doubt that has ever been a motivator of mine."

"Even when you went to school? I know that was the case for me."

"You and I probably had very different experiences regarding schooling. I assume you mean high school."

"High school, college, junior high—any of those."

"Even still," Auden said placing his fork down. "At some point, I realized that I wasn't going to fit in and stopped trying. Perhaps earlier than most, I noticed that peer pressure seemed silly."

"Well, well, a regular prodigy social connoisseur."

"Hardly. In fact, probably the opposite. I didn't mean to come off as some sort of know-it-all."

"Oh, that's alright—I like to imagine that you do know everything," Pan said with a grin.

"If it has something to do with software engineering, then you might just be right."

"Well, your magical phone happens to be able to do pretty much everything."

"Up to a point," he said modestly.

Pan found that she enjoyed complimenting the man as she wondered how far his modesty could go.

"But if I really knew everything," he continued, "I would know how you always manage to meet me at lunch on time when you work hours away. Seems like an impossible task or at least an arrangement that most jobs would frown upon."

"Well, it's not exactly a secret how I can get here so quickly," Pan said with a shrug, "I can fly."

Auden looked up and gazed at her with what Pan could only assume was a puzzled expression—his sharp eyes seemed to be in the process of reading her very mind.

"Trying to see if I'm telling the truth or not?" Pan said with a laugh as he studied her.

"I certainly can't tell if someone's lying to me or not—I was just trying to decide if it was plausible."

"Your daughter hangs out with Jensen all the time, and you don't know about all this?"

"She's never mentioned anything like this to me."

"Hold on," Pan said as she stood up and then backed up a little so that Auden had a good view of her. She had his attention as she began to levitate off the ground until she was above the height of the table.

His eyes followed her, but as usual, his expression hardly changed indicating nothing of the astonishment she was sure he felt at the moment. "Quite a feat," Auden said as he watched her float down again.

"That's it? No jumping out of your seat, no shouts of surprise? For someone who's never seen anything like this, you seem pretty underwhelmed about it."

"I was aware you were going to show me something and you did—I see no reason to be surprised by it. I can't deny what I see right in front of me. Sorry, if that was anticlimactic."

"You don't have to apologize for that. In fact, it would be nice if you didn't feel the need to apologize for being who you are."

"I will try my best not to annoy you with that."

"It's not about me being annoyed," Pan said with a smile, but it was clear he wasn't entirely aware of what she was getting at as he picked up his fork to continue with his salad. "In high school, I really didn't fit in with anybody and I desperately tried to change that. I started pretending to be someone else so that I could feel normal. It worked for a while until I got tired of it, right around the time I graduated. I realized that the world is a much bigger place than just the four walls of a school and that people are varied. It was okay to not fit into a box because there's so much more you have to worry about than just that in the real world."

"It's all the real world whether you're in school or not," Auden replied, "You're always dealing with people, you're always making decisions about your life—big or small. The same people you saw in school are the same people you'll meet elsewhere only now they're all adults and that doesn't always make things better."

"I guess you're right, but it still feels different to a certain degree. Way more responsibilities."

"For some, the transition is a gradual thing as you become more and more independent. For others, it happens all at once and then you flounder until things start to make a little more sense."

"I'm guessing the latter is more your experience," Pan said.

"I'm still learning, just as you are."

"You? Learning? But I thought you knew everything," Pan said playfully.

"Yes, my omniscience is boundless," he said finally humoring her on this point.

Even if he never cracked a smile, she counted it as points in her book, but she didn't want to push her luck. He'd returned to his food, eating in his usual orderly manner. She watched him for a moment longer than usual wondering what it might be like to disrupt that order, to cause him to do something outside of his comfort zone. It was a consuming thought. He caught her watching, but she quickly took her eyes off him as if it hadn't happened at all. He made no comment about it.

Not too long after, they finished their lunch and parted ways. It had been a pleasant meal with pleasant conversation, nothing particularly special. Despite this fact, Pan looked forward to having lunch with him. She found herself interested in everything he had to say even if it was difficult just getting him to talk in the first place. She felt comfortable engaging in that daily challenge and it did seem that little by little he was becoming used to her presence. Something told her that he had very few people in his life in which that was the case.

She returned to her work mentally rejuvenated and fully ready to take on the stresses that naturally came with caring for pets. Her work demanded that she be compassionate and considerate of everyone's feelings no matter if that someone could not always verbalize their issues or pain. She felt she was quite good at reading animals as well as humans and this made her workflow much smoother. She was gentle when she needed to be and stern when there was no other alternative.

That day had been a long one and she was glad when she left the office late in the evening. She was supposed to get off a bit sooner, but that was not the case. As had become habit, she sent Auden a text message as she drove home for the day. _Hope you had a lovely day at work._

She would always send something of that effect and he would text back a few minutes after with something thoughtful and meaningful, often longwinded. He was far more eloquent in his writing than he was in speaking. She anticipated his reply, but this time it did not come in the usual span of time. She assumed he was busy and didn't think too much of it until an hour passed and she was done preparing and eating supper for herself. _Everything alright?_

There was no response after a few minutes. She then sought him out with her ki sense. His signature had always been distressingly weak even when he stood right in front of her and she was still not familiar enough with his signature to pick him up at a moment's notice. When she couldn't sense him at all, she panicked perhaps more than what was necessary and flew off into the air to where he lived.

She made it to his place in record time and once there she could sense him again alive, but likely not well. Worried, she knocked on the door without further ado, but no one answered the door. The only one inside was Auden. Aster must have been elsewhere possibly at the Briefs.

"Auden, it's me," Pan called out as she knocked harder.

It was an impromptu visit and she knew he wasn't particularly good with unscheduled things, but this was an emergency. He felt weaker than usual and she could not figure out why. 'Please,' Pan thought to herself, 'Please just let this be some false alarm.' When no one answered for a while longer, she tried turning the doorknob and she immediately found that it was not locked—very unlike Auden. Even if he lived in a nice apartment complex, he always locked his door and he insisted upon it. Something was definitely wrong.

She stepped into his place, realizing as she looked around that she'd never been inside before. It was a tidy place, everything appeared to be functional yet it felt neglected. There was a living room she immediately stepped into from the front door and the sofa seemed as if no one had ever sat in it—it was just there for decoration. There was no discernible dent in the cushions indicating any sign of long use. The flat screen was a bit dusty along with the tables. As she stepped further in, she found Auden sitting at the dining room table that was surprisingly well-polished and clear of dust, but his head was lying face down on folded arms at the table. He had a steady heartbeat and his energy, now that she could see him with her own eyes, felt extremely languid. Maybe he'd just had a long day at work.

Just to make sure, she moved over to him. She hesitated as she reached out to touch his forehead. He hated being touched, but this was necessary. She needed to check his temperature. Very slightly, she lifted his head so that she could slip in her hand to feel his forehead. Just as she thought, he was burning up.

"Auden," she said gently with her voice close to his ear, "Wake up—it would probably be better if you laid down."

He moaned a little, but she doubted he was really responding to her—his eyes were still closed not to mention he still wore his glasses. Pan imagined that this must have been a very sudden episode as she couldn't imagine someone choosing to sit at a table when his own bed was right around the corner.

"C'mon," Pan said as she sat him up on her own and this time she received no response whatsoever. His head lolled to the side. She felt for his temperature again and she became a bit more worried for him. Had it gotten worse?

Eventually, she took him out of his chair and brought him to the very unused couch—she didn't feel right barging into his bedroom. Once she placed him there, he moved about of his own accord instinctively making himself a bit more comfortable. Though he tried, he looked utterly uncomfortable. His eyebrows were furrowed a bit and his skin was beading with sweat. She needed a cold rag, she thought. Giving him medicine probably wouldn't be a good option since she knew he was already on quite a bit of them and there was likely a very short list of over-the-counter drugs he could use to help in these sorts of situations without it reacting badly with whatever he did take.

Pan looked around a bit at the small apartment and found the linen quickly enough—it was the first door to the only hallway in the place. Quickly she soaked the rag with cold water and placed it over his forehead. He took a longer breath at this and his head turned slightly to the side in what seemed like frustration. Pan sat down on the smaller couch nearby knowing that it might be awhile before his fever broke—she decided to stay until she knew he would be alright. Every few minutes, she would re-wet the rag. After the second time, she also ran the cool rag over his face. She debated with herself whether she should also unbutton his shirt. In fact, she stood staring down at those buttons for a good five minutes before finally deciding against it. He likely wouldn't like that. It was bad enough she'd basically broken into his place.

Almost half an hour passed before his temperature returned to acceptable levels—she'd taken the rag away and set it on the living room table. She wondered if she should leave and pretend as if she hadn't entered at all, but she supposed it was too late for that sort of thing. He'd likely be confused as to how he'd made it to a couch and Pan supposed that it probably wouldn't be a good thing for Auden to think there was some inexplicable gap in his memory. It would be far less jarring to simply stay.

"Pan?" He asked wearily. He seemed to regain his awareness soon after his fever passed. His eyes afforded her a glance as he sat up slowly. "What are you doing here?" He'd drawn one leg up and one of his arms rested upon the knee.

She couldn't immediately sense his unease as his tone revealed nothing, but she did notice as his eyes travelled to the table he'd been sitting at before.

"You didn't return my text—I got a little worried. I had to make sure you were alright."

She could sense his heart rate increasing steadily as his breath quickened. It was just like on the day they first met and he appeared to be hyperventilating. Only in hindsight did she realize that she must have been standing too close to him. Now, here it was again—the very thing she'd been trying to avoid. All that progress she supposed she'd been making with him seemed meaningless as she watched his hands begin to tremble. He tried to hide this as he clasped his hands together. She wanted to reach out to touch and hold him, but that would surely make things worse. There was nothing really she could do. Given time, she knew panic attacks was something that could ease off on its own.

"I should leave," Pan said standing up abruptly, "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to startle or intrude on your personal space." She moved two paces before he spoke further.

"You came all this way here…out of concern. I'm grateful," he said between breaths. This stopped her in her tracks. "I'm very grateful," he said, "Please…you don't have to leave if you don't want to."

Pan looked back at him, but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were closed and his head lowered as his rapid breathing continued. "A-Are you sure? I don't want to make it worse."

"You're fine. I'm just…being silly. Someone else other than my daughter in the apartment—I suppose I wasn't ready for that. My apologies."

"Please don't apologize. I completely understand. I just barged in here and you had no idea I was even here. It is a bit startling," Pan said watching him.

He leaned his head against the back of the couch with a pained expression. "It's just silly," he said breathlessly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Pan asked as she moved slowly back to where she'd been sitting before. His condition had not changed.

"Just…give me a minute," he managed to reply.

Pan sat quietly then as she waited for the other to regain his composure, but it was not something that occurred instantly. It was something that he struggled with and she witnessed it for herself. A multitude of feelings went through her as she saw this. She just wanted to embrace him and reassure him that everything was okay, but that was too simplistic and in reality, that wouldn't work at all. Eventually, his breathing did slow and he began to do so evenly. She didn't speak though there was a lot that she wanted to say. He hadn't turned his head towards her yet. Perhaps he still needed some time. Did he even remember that she was in the room?

"A certain feeling just hits me," Auden said quietly, effectively breaking the drawn-out silence, "even when objectively I understand that it's not a significant event. I always worry. I always panic. In that moment, it becomes inescapable." He looked at her fully now. "I make for terrible company. You'd have a far less stressful time anywhere else."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that," Pan said with a brief smile.

He shook his head slowly. "Sometimes, I don't know what to make of you. Nonetheless, I'm fine. That fever from earlier—a fairly routine occurrence. A minor side effect from the medication."

"Minor? Routine? You were burning up. Prolonged fevers or one that reaches too high of a temperature could be fatal," Pan said determinedly, "It's no small matter."

"It always passes just as quickly as it comes," Auden said with sigh, "And there isn't much else I can do about it."

"I assume you've told your doctor about all this."

"Of course, I have. The pros and cons were weighed and it was decided that the medication which caused the symptoms was vital for my continued positive…mental health."

"And you have to take all those medications?" Pan asked probing him a bit further.

"I've spoken to plenty of psychiatrist in the past and they all agree on this."

"That's not what I mean. I know you wouldn't be taking them if they weren't prescribed to you."

"Then what do you mean?" he asked perplexed.

"Have you ever tried working on those issues you do have, coping with them better? At the very least, something like that might reduce how much you have to take."

"That's easier said than done," he said looking away from her. She wondered if she'd reached a sore subject. "I tend to avoid things altogether and life has become much simpler for me though not entirely conducive to meeting new people."

"But you do work. You interact with others all the time because of that. I think that's a huge achievement."

"It's very draining," he said with a sigh, "And I know that if I ever quit that job, I'd go and hide in a hole somewhere so that I would never be disturbed by another breathing soul."

"So…you hate being around people in general, then?" Pan asked.

"Hate is such a strong word. Perhaps a dislike. If it's people that I know or are used to, it becomes significantly more manageable, but with a crowd full of strangers, paranoia sets in rather quickly. It has always been that way perhaps worse in the past."

He was sitting normally on the couch now with his feet on the floor. His eyes met hers and she was battling the blush that was coming to her face. Rarely did he engage her so exclusively. He often had something else to distract his eyes, his cellphone being the usual culprit.

"I—well, there's something I've been meaning to ask. I suppose I've been hesitating because I'm afraid of the answer you might give."

"Imagining you afraid of something is a bit of a challenge," he replied.

Pan laughed at this, "It happens, believe it or not. I just wanted to know and maybe you're just too polite to say, but do I…annoy you? I mean, I text you almost every day expecting a reply from you. I ask you to do things that you probably wouldn't do anyway. Am I just a complete nuisance at this point?"

"Not you, Pan," he said back. Hearing her name on his lips made her feel a bit giddy—he didn't often utter it. "I keep wondering when it is you'll come back to your senses and realize that there are far better people to hang out with for far less hassle. I may not like being around a lot of people at once, but that doesn't mean I hate all modes of interaction. And if you recall, sometimes I initiate a phone call rare though it may be. I treasure our friendship, however long you wish to humor me."

"I had no idea. Sometimes it's just hard to tell. It's sort of a privilege that you even humor me. When will you get it through your head? I just genuinely like being around you. I like to drag you out to places I'm sure is completely out of your comfort zone."

"That's true," he said sitting back on the couch. "And yet I don't mind. You seem like a powerful woman without a fear in the world—it's difficult not to admire that. It's difficult not to want to be around such an aura."

She was certainly blushing now and she wondered if he noticed. "You really flatter me too much." No one had ever described her in such a way. No one had ever admired her. This genius, this man whose mind worked on a level far beyond what she was capable had found her worthy of admiration.

"Perhaps not enough," he replied which did nothing for her burning ears. "I was going to text you back. It was, in fact, a lovely day at work. No sudden, unexpected issues came up. I was not needed at some other location on short notice. Everyone came in on time. And yet I was kept busy and the time went swiftly. I hope it was the same for you."

"Well, not exactly. It's always hectic at the office and sadly there's always people we have to turn away when the time starts winding down. It always bothers me, but otherwise we'd be in there all day without break. It's easy to lose track of time."

"It must be difficult having to deal with life and death situations on such a constant basis. It takes a certain kind of strength to bear it so effortlessly."

"It's all out of love," Pan said. "I like being able to help those in need."

"I see," he replied a moment later in a tone that wasn't nearly as pleasant as before.

Pan's eyebrows furrowed a little wondering if she'd somehow made him upset, but his countenance revealed nothing. It was at times like these that she wished she could read what was on his mind.

"Well," she began, worried that she'd overstayed her welcome, "I should be going, it's getting late and it seems like you're doing just fine."

"I suppose it is," Auden said without any hint of hesitation.

She stood up at this. "I'll be going then."

He didn't stop her as she made her way to the door, but he did stand up and follow her, making sure there was quite a bit of distance between them. She stopped before the door, placing her hand on the knob.

"Have a pleasant evening," Pan said glancing behind her. She smiled at him, but he appeared unmoved.

"You as well," he replied with little pretense.

She stood at the door for a moment longer than usual and then decided she couldn't take another step until she got to the bottom of his sudden change in attitude. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm just tired."

She glanced back at him again and noticed his thumb and ring finger pinching the bridge of his nose—maybe he was telling the truth. "Are you sure that's all?"

"We should talk later," he said plainly.

Pan sighed exasperatedly, "So it is something else. Just tell me, alright? It's not like I'm in a rush to get home." She turned completely to him.

His eyes met hers and he gazed at her for a few moments before answering her. "You like helping animals and people as well," he stated and she nodded at this. "I can't help but think that I'm your next patient. You see some kind of challenge to overcome and that intrigues you. Something entertaining to do in the short-run before it becomes tiresome and passé."

"Auden, where are you getting all that from? Have I ever given you the impression that I think of you like that? I…don't know if you realize it or not, but since the very first time I laid eyes on you, I was interested, very interested in you. I hadn't even known your name. You were a complete stranger. I know it's been a while since that time—a lot has happened since then, but that feeling hasn't changed."

"I'm not sure I follow. How could you be interested in someone you don't even know?"

His confusion puzzled her. She thought it was pretty obvious seeing as there was only one thing a person could observe about another from afar: their appearance. He was quite handsome in her eyes. She had a soft spot for blonds and the sharp blueness of his eyes were mesmerizing. Were he a more approachable person, she had no doubt that suitors would have been lining up. Pan grinned at him. "You know, I think I'll let you figure that out for yourself. In the meantime, I think I really should get going. I have an early start tomorrow, as do you."

"You're right," he said after a pause a little longer than usual. He must still have been trying to figure it all out. "In that case, good night. Have a safe flight home."

"I always do," Pan said turning.

She was glad to be back on good terms with him. It was a short-lived disagreement. Though his mood could quickly sour, it could just as easily be recovered. Auden wasn't one for keeping secrets so it was easy for her to find out what was bothering him.

Happy with how the evening ended, she took a bit longer than usual getting home. It was a lovely night and she wanted to bask in her good mood. Once she was finally in the bed comfortably, all she could see was Auden looking directly at her, but what really surprised her was the bright smile on his face—it was beautiful. One day she might see him when he was happy. One day, whatever hefty baggage he carried within himself, would vanish completely. For now, things were fine the way they were.


	2. A Little Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pan spends more time with Auden.

Pan woke up with a smile on her face. It was a first for her as lately she'd had little to smile about. Today was different and she knew it had something to do with Auden and his continued presence in her life. Speaking of him, she noticed a new text message from him: _Good morning, hope your rest was peaceful and rejuvenating. There should be a package in your mailbox. It's something I've been working on for you for quite some time. I hope you find it to your liking._

'He got me a gift? Wait, he made me something?' Pan thought to herself with growing excitement. _Good morning to you as well and thank you; I can't wait to find out what it is_ , she texted back. With her good mood cemented, she quickly climbed out of bed to get herself ready for the day. While her breakfast was cooking, she made the short trek downstairs to the mailbox which was set beside everyone else's in that building. Auden hadn't given her any indication that he was even pondering giving her something. He'd never done so before. Valentine's Day would come and go and he'd have nothing to show for it. In fact, when she told him what day it was on the day of, he stated that he wasn't even aware. Those sorts of things were of no concern to him. Perhaps he was aromantic and didn't believe in wooing others. Maybe she was assuming too much. Did he even consider them dating or was that all in her head? It wasn't as if they'd talked about it all properly. Neither had yet to put labels on whatever it is they had together.

Pan found the small box and at first thought it was some sort of jewelry, but when she picked it up, she felt its hefty weight—much too heavy for jewelry with reasonable price tags. Auden was too logical of a person to ever consider purchasing such a thing. Her curiosity was piqued when she hurriedly made it back inside so that she could rip open the box.

Inside the box, was a thin golden cellphone without a logo on it. The device was either custom made or completely bootleg. Pan hoped it was the former. Did he think that she needed a new cellphone? She wondered if he'd just noticed her phone one day and decided that it wasn't "good" enough. Auden could talk for hours about the merits of one device over the other. Sometimes she felt as if he'd be more suited to being some sort of tech analyst rather than just dealing with tech support exclusively.

Pan was able to turn on the phone without charging. In fact, there was no charger with it and no space around the phone for a charging cable. Maybe this was some sort of prototype and already she was finding the flaws. She was tempted to text and ask him what the heck he'd given her, but she wanted to discover it for herself. Maybe she might impress him with her own skills of deduction. The screen came alive quickly with a logo she'd not seen before and a woman's voice spoke to her.

"Good morning, what would you like me to do for you?"

Her eyebrows furrowed at this—a digital assistant? She was waiting for the phone to show her the welcome screen or something for her to press, but the symbol of the cute little tiger cub remained patiently waiting for her to say something.

"Ummm…what can you do?" Pan asked unsure of what to do next.

"Everything," the woman answered in pleasant tones.

"You can't just do everything," Pan said matter-of-factly.

"Of course not, I don't have arms and I'm just a voice, but compared to any other digital assistant—I can do anything. Within reason, of course."

Pan looked at her phone quizzically. That didn't quite answer her question, but she was already coming up with things to ask on this basis. Maybe she meant that she could do anything that a typical app might be able to do. "What's your name?"

"Ty," the woman said exclusively.

"Thai? Like the food?"

"No, like the abbreviation of a certain person we both mutually know."

On the screen, Pan was shown the spelling of the name and she immediately understood. 'Tyga', Pan thought to herself, 'Auden Tyga'. "That's a strange name to have," Pan said, "But maybe it'll grow on me."

"Well, it'll be a hard one to forget. I like to keep things short and simple," Ty responded.

"I bet you do. Now let me see…Can you turn on the television?"

"Of course," Ty replied with some smugness.

Pan looked up in surprise when the flat screen turned on instantly. "Wow…" she said almost to herself.

"I know, but that was simple. Give me something a bit more difficult," Ty said.

"Can you turn on and off the lights three times and turn off my phone?"

Almost instantly, the lights turned on and off three times and her phone began the long sequence of turning off completely.

"I can make that process go a bit faster—most phones have a lot of redundancy," Ty said. Then her phone's screen went dark instantly. "Now it will turn on and off at the same accelerated pace each time. You're welcome."

"Did you just optimize my phone?" Pan asked.

"Against my better judgement as I'm in direct competition for your attention—but, yes, I did. An easy fix."

"Can you optimize my PC as well?"

"Hold on. Wow, a few years old, huh? It should be working like new when you next turn it on."

Pan stood up and went to her laptop which was on the dresser and proceeded to turning it on. Much like her phone, it turned on instantly. Her PC had never been that fast before, but then she'd gotten it used in the first place. "So you're just a super convenient tech support device?" she asked enjoying the swiftness of new windows and apps opening on the computer screen.

"That's a bit of a small box to put me in. I can do anything within reason, meaning as long as I can communicate with said device or grid or internet or Bluetooth or network—I can manipulate the programing," she informed her.

"You could have told me that earlier instead of just 'everything'."

"I was programmed that way. Mystery makes me more interesting and nuanced. I can give several different answers to the same question just like a normal person."

"None of them, blatant lies, I hope."

"Sometimes," Ty conceded, "To keep things interesting. All you have to do though is ask 'are you lying' and I'll tell you yes or no truthfully."

"I see. That's an odd little mechanic. A bit unnecessary, if you ask me."

"Luckily, no one did," Ty said back in a sarcastic tone.

This surprised Pan. "Aren't you supposed to be nice and helpful?"

"I am and perhaps entertaining as well."

"Alright, I think I get it now," Pan said shaking her head with a grin. "So Auden created you and I'm just the test subject. I don't know why he decided to just arbitrarily gift this to me."

"I'm not a test. I'm fully functional as he wanted me to be."

"If that's the case…" Pan said slowly, "I mean, this must have taken years to develop and then all he does is give it to me? Seems like something you could sell or make a business out of. Soon A.I.'s could be taking over the world."

"I am not a learning A.I. I know only what is programmed. Also, there would be no benefit for me to assume constant control over things nor is that possible. The system is too fragmented and not all people partake in technology at equal levels."

"You make a good point, Ty."

"No need to worry."

"That's yet to be decided. Think I'll shut you off for now. Is that alright—"

The phone quickly blackened and cut off completely much to her further surprise. She hadn't even finished speaking. Was that supposed to happen? "Ty, turn on."

The phone remained turned off. She repeated herself and the phone didn't respond. A little miffed, she felt for the few buttons on the device and thought she found the power button. With a press, the phone was turned back on without a second's delay.

"So you can't just turn yourself back on?" Pan asked.

"When systems are shut off, I cannot respond to requests."

"Seems like a technical flaw," Pan said.

"Do you really want me listening even after you turn me off?"

"Hmmm…you have a point. Alright, shut off—Need to get ready for work," Pan said.

Without further ado, the phone's screen blackened. Pan was a bit speechless. Why had Auden given her this? For what purpose? Was he trying to show off? She didn't mind it much if he was, but it seemed unlike him. She texted him: _Interesting gift._ He texted back: _Do you not like it?_ She typed back quickly: _The jury is still out on that. I don't understand. Why did you give me this?_ It took him a while to reply and it was a long one: _I thought you might like it. You always seemed to enjoy the phone that I had. Though I could not give you that one as it has a terrible user interface for anyone not well-versed in computer language, I decided to simplify things and perhaps give you some sort of program of equal versatility. Then it grew into a longer project. The framework had already been laid out years ago—some long, forgotten idea that became a convenient one to revisit. There is no UI, but rather a voice. It doesn't have much of a graphics card—not much can be displayed on the screen—but it is a robust system nonetheless. If you have any questions, please ask. I do hope it will be of some convenience to you."_

Pan read this as she shoveled her breakfast into her mouth. She would be late for work at this rate. She hadn't expected all of this, but she was not upset about it. She would have to ask him questions later. Despite that, she did put the mysterious device in her purse, thinking she might just have some use for it after all. After climbing into the car and driving out into the main streets, she found herself sitting at long red lights as was the case each day she drove to work. Pan took out her phone as a thought came to her. She turned it on and the cute little fuzzy tiger cub appeared on the screen.

"Could you…turn the red lights green for me all the way to work." This was a test. She didn't expect for this to work. She expected a sarcastic reply about how ridiculous her request was.

"Of course. Hold on. Now you should be fine."

The traffic light eventually turned green. It wasn't instant and this was probably for good reason as other cars would have needed time to slow and stop. Much to her delight, she drove uninterrupted to work and made it there minutes before her shift began. Pan decided right then and there, that she loved the wonderful new phone. Who knew what else she could use it for? Pan looked around once again for the charging cord slot, but she couldn't find it. She'd have to ask Auden about it later.

* * *

Pan was pleasantly surprised when her phone began to ring and the caller ID read Auden. It was the evening of the next day and she was just settling down in her apartment. She answered with a smile on her face.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Hello," he replied in a tone that was frustratingly neutral. It had an almost robotic quality to it. She couldn't tell if he was happy or not. He had called on his own, however. "There is a new restaurant that has opened up nearby where I live that I've been interested in going to for some time now. Would you care to join me?"

Pan wasn't sure what had prompted such a thing—he'd never invited her to go somewhere with him. On his own admittance, he rarely went anywhere outside of work and home. This was an odd, but welcome occurrence. She couldn't help but question him just a bit. "What's the occasion?"

"I passed by the place once more today. I do that every single time I go home and I always tell myself that I should go there if I'm interested. Then I see all the cars, all the people, and it's an unknown. I've never been inside and I don't know what to expect. So I tell myself, I'll do it later. Not today, but tomorrow when I'm ready. I do that over and over again until I decide that I'm quite tired of waiting. That's the occasion," he finished wearily.

"Well," Pan said as she silently sympathized with his inability to do something that most would consider quite simple, "the wait is over. I'll be there soon, alright? You caught me right before I started making myself dinner."

"Thank you," he replied.

"You're thanking me? You're the one taking me out. Otherwise, I'd just spend dinner by myself watching something on TV."

"This was a bit impromptu. I should have given you more time to decide. I knew, however, that if I did not do this now that I would lose my nerve to do so and continue as always, still wondering what that restaurant might be like."

Pan had her cell on speaker phone listening to him as she rifled through her closet to find something nice to wear. She found a pair of form fitting blue jeans to wear and a red and white shawl-like blouse. She threw on her red sandals and took off from her balcony.

"Don't worry, I completely understand. I know this must be a big deal for you, I'm glad you called. If it's within my power, I will support you no matter what."

"That is a bold claim," Pan heard him say with the same neutral tone, "One that I can barely hear over the gusting winds. I assume you're on your way. We'll talk more when you get here."

"Alright, see you in five minutes at your place."

Pan hung up the phone and flew as fast as she could to her destination. She was quite motivated to go out on the closest thing to a date that she'd had in a very long time. For a brief moment, she turned to her ascended form to shoot through the air even faster and she made it to Auden's place in record time. He was on the second floor. By the time she climbed the stairs, she heard him coming out of his door. Auden was always a sight for sore eyes. His very appearance brought a smile to her face. He wore nothing out of the ordinary. It was his usual business casual clothes with one of his many quirky ties—this time it was silk depicting the night sky. The royal blue colors of the tie brought out the sharpness of his eyes.

"Do you always have to put your hair up?" Pan asked him before she said anything else, skipping pleasantries altogether. It was something that had bothered her often. Today she'd simply blurted it out. She was feeling a bit spontaneous.

He turned to her after locking his door. "I prefer it that way," he answered as if it was a completely normal question. "I hate when hair gets in my face or in my eyes and how it severely cuts down my peripherals."

"Then why don't you just cut it, if it's such a pain?"

"Why indeed?" he answered with a question of his own.

"Seriously, though," Pan pushed further sensing his evasiveness.

"For the same reason it's taken me so long to go to this restaurant."

"Oh," Pan said in realization, regretting that she'd pushed him to give her a real answer.

"It's alright," he said unperturbed, "Maybe that will change."

Pan wondered how long that this had been the case. At what point had he decided that he'd rather not have such long hair and for how long had he been trying to get up the nerve to do something about it? Pan could hardly imagine waiting so long for something that she really wanted to do. It showed her just how much his own fears still had quite a hold over him. She became that much more excited about doing this with him. Maybe this was a first step to doing all those other things he'd put on the backburner. Perhaps it would even be relieving, but maybe she was getting ahead of herself. They were just going to a restaurant.

She climbed into his car—a thing that she did not do very often and was very excited to do. While inside the car, she would be quite close to him. She remembered the first time she'd driven with him—he'd clearly been uncomfortable. He'd told her that he was only used to driving Aster to places and that she generally sat in the back. At one time, under urgent circumstances, he'd driven Bra as well, but his mind had been too preoccupied worrying over her condition and making it to the hospital on time to be concerned with just her mere presence. As it turned out, when it came to high-stress situations, Auden became a great deal more practical and less concerned about trivial matters he would otherwise have issue with.

They were breathing the same air. She could smell him and his rich, spicy scent that Pan was sure she was the only one aware of. He wore a light application of one of the more sweeter colognes, but it suited his naturally spicy fragrance. Maybe he knew this as well. She rolled her window down a bit—Auden did not mind that. She wanted the breeze to play with the small tendrils of his hair which would always find its way loose upon his forehead. She imagined his hair to be quite soft and she longed to run her hands through it if only he'd let her. She assumed that she couldn't, so she didn't even begin to ask him to do it. Wouldn't that be an odd request? He barely did well with briefly being tapped on the shoulder, an entire hand going through his hair would be too daunting. It was a shame. She was making progress, she knew. She hadn't sensed any sort of unease from him as they drove in relative silence to the place. He'd grown used to her presence.

The new soul food restaurant was surprisingly packed that day. Pan couldn't see a line at the door, but the substantial parking lot had almost reached its capacity. She worried that Auden might not fare well. They parked far into the back and they had quite the journey making their way to the entrance.

"So this place has been open for weeks now?" Pan asked.

"Almost a month," Auden elaborated.

"And it still seems to be doing really well. They must be doing something right," Pan said with a laugh.

"Well, if the smell of food wafting out of the place is any indication, then I can certainly imagine repeat patronage."

Pan smelled it too. In fact, she'd smelled it for a while now and she had been actively trying to ignore it knowing that her own hunger would reach unbearable levels of pain otherwise. She'd be liable to eat anything upon sight—and that wasn't exactly the image she wanted Auden to see. He was such a sophisticated individual, always dressing as if he was going to some important meeting, habitually speaking in elevated language, and appearing clean-cut and well-groomed, that Pan was always trying to present herself in a way that was worthy of such a person. She took care to wear something feminine whenever he was around. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was uncouth and tomboyish.

Despite the high level of traffic the restaurant was getting, the host took them immediately to a place to sit down at a booth. It was a large building able to fit hundreds of patrons at one time. The smell of good food intensified upon sitting down and Pan was struggling to maintain her composure. Auden remained outwardly unmoved by this, the very picture of calm and neutrality. It was incredible.

"A lot of people in here today," Pan said to him as they began parsing through the menu. They sat on either side of the table. "If it gets to be too much, I have no problem with leaving, alright? Just let me know if you feel uncomfortable."

"I think I'll be fine," he said, his eyes preoccupied with the menu.

Pan was surprised with his almost dismissive tones as if this wasn't at all a big deal. It had seemed like it would be. She'd even expected another panic attack. She looked only briefly at him with a raised eyebrow. He must have noticed her with his peripherals despite not looking up as he soon responded.

"Were it not for you being here, I think I might have had a complete meltdown by now. We are quite surrounded, but focusing on you—everything else becomes background noise."

She found herself blushing at this. "Well, I'm glad to be of help." The burning sensation intensified when his eyes briefly locked with hers as he looked up from the menu.

"Your strength and confidence is always so palpable. It is quite beautiful and difficult to ignore."

"There you go again—flattering me until I turn into a strawberry."

"Maybe I enjoy seeing your flushed cheeks." He'd stopped paying attention to the menu and there was a sort of devious nature to his expression.

"Auden!" Pan said laughing, surprised at his blatant flirting

"While I'm on the subject, I forgot to mention how nice you look in your clothes today. I'm sure you could pull off anything without even trying." He wore an almost-smile. If his lips curved upward a bit more…

"Alright, you can stop now," she said smiling from ear to ear—she couldn't help it.

"For your sake, I think I will. I would hate for you to melt away completely."

"You're in a rare mood today," Pan said back. "I think I like it."

"I'm excited actually, to be here in this restaurant so soon. I imagined I'd work up the nerves much further down the line. I'm glad I decided not to wait so long. I'm glad that you're here to share this experience with. I wouldn't be doing this at all without you here."

Pan smiled. "Well, then, let's order some food shall we? Let's see if it's worth the hype."

"I know what I'm getting and it definitely involves cornbread and fried chicken."

"You sure you can handle that, Mr. Vegetarian-out-of-convenience?" Pan asked teasingly. "Weren't you on a diet?"

"Pan, we're in a soul food restaurant. All pretenses of 'healthy' eating was thrown out the window once we stepped in. The real question is can you handle it, lover of Asian cuisine particularly Japanese."

Pan laughed at this. "That's true. I suppose I should have known what I was walking into. Rarely have I partaken in anything that doesn't have rice or some sort of noodle."

"I think you'll find rice in most cuisines, even this one if you're feeling a bit intimidated."

"Intimidated? Me? I'll try anything at least once," Pan said confidently.

Auden hadn't looked at the menu for long and had already closed it entirely. Despite never being to this restaurant, he seemed quite comfortable with choosing what to eat. She, on the other hand, was having some trouble understanding the food items themselves and she was still undecided.

"What's the difference between turnip and collard greens?" Pan asked.

"Taste-wise, collards have a bitter note and turnips are spicier. It doesn't matter a whole lot since they'll likely be prepared the same. I have no idea how they're making it though. Some season them to be quite savory or spicy or even sweet."

"Wow, that's a lot variation. How do you know how they'll be made? They don't have a lot of description here."

"So much of soul food was born out of whatever you had on hand that it was more about making unwanted scraps of food palatable rather than having a specific taste or method. Now there's certain conventions that people have decided on. Old, unwritten recipes now interpreted differently from person to person, family to family—it's difficult to pinpoint a specific taste. You'd be better off asking the waiter if you're concerned about that or just trying it for yourself."

"You seem to know a lot about all this. Are you some sort of soul food enthusiast?"

"It's just something I grew up eating. That's how Mom always cooked things. Regrettably, I hadn't been all that interested in cooking back then as a child. I was too much into my studies, but I would always look forward to her cooking. I've been to quite a few of these sorts of restaurants—unfortunately, I've never tasted anything exactly how she would make things. Everyone cooks soul food a little differently, everyone has their own secret ingredient. But usually it's close enough for me to appreciate. It's in the same realm of taste and cooking. And," Auden finished with a more pronounced upward curve of his mouth in what could be a vague smile, "one can never go wrong with cornbread."

"Could I…try a piece of yours before committing to a whole slice?"

"Of course. Taste test to your heart's content, but leave some for me."

"Ha, ha, very funny. I thought you were supposed to be complimenting me."

"I see nothing wrong with a healthy appetite. We eat lunch together all the time and I do notice the sheer amount of food you bring each time."

"Well, it's not the most attractive thing to point out about a lady," she said in light teasing tones.

"Only because society says so. According to that, all women should be rail thin and fair skinned or as close to that as you can get."

"You know, I think you might be onto something." Then an idea came to her mind. "What kind of woman do you prefer?"

Auden sat back a little in his seat. "Such a loaded question, Pan."

"How about you just be honest. I'm not trying to bait you or anything."

"Truthfully, I don't have a specific preference. I've never thought of women in that way. I've never classified them into types. There's simply too much diversity, don't you think? How can you tell if you prefer one over the other if you've never met all types of women? I hadn't even pictured myself with another woman until, well recently—in the past few years. I do think there is beauty in all women as long as she's comfortable in her own skin."

"Ugh, that's such a PC answer. I wanted the inside scoop," Pan complained.

"That's what I believe." He paused and then continued, "but I do find my eyes drawn to women of a more earthier skin tone. There's a certain allure."

"Am I too fair for you then," she said with a grin.

"Indeed. You should look into sun tanning," Auden said humoring her.

"I'll think about it," Pan said with a grin.

"In all seriousness, you look well exactly as you are now," Auden said.

"You're doing it again, aren't you? Trying to make me blush."

"That's entirely too easy to do, but, at the moment, I was simply being honest."

Just then, the waiter came to their table and Pan watched as Auden ordered his food with ease. Pan eventually chose something similar to what Auden had ordered just so she could get the ordering over with. She just wanted some food on a plate in front of her as quickly as possible.

"You can put that all on one check," Auden told the waiter when he asked how they'd like the order to be separated.

Pan looked up with surprise, but it had happened so quickly and the waiter had already left their table to deal with another. It was quite a busy night. "Maybe you should have ran that by me first before doing that."

"Oh? Was I being too forward?"

"Is this a date?" she asked.

"Take it as a token of my appreciation for joining me on such short notice. I've been enjoying myself in this new restaurant—it's the least I can do."

Pan looked at him quizzically, but his expression revealed nothing. "Well, alright, but let me know you're going to do something like that beforehand."

"My apologies," he answered smoothly. "It won't happen again."

Pan pursed her lips for a moment, but then let the matter rest. It was a nice gesture after all. His heart seemed in the right place. "So, I've been meaning to talk to you about this," she said taking out the gift he'd given her earlier that week. "What in the world? Did you really make all this for me? This must have taken forever."

"Not that long. I simply repurposed the program I already had on my phone and made it more automated. Your phone may have a little less capabilities than mine because of that, but I think it will do for your needs. I've already thought of some ways to update the system. Every program is a work in progress as they say."

"You really shouldn't have," she said incredulously, "I kind of feel guilty making you think you needed to do something like this just because your phone was so unique and couldn't really be duplicated."

"Don't be. It wasn't difficult for me. It was something I enjoyed doing very much. Creating a new program, repurposing code to be of great use to someone else—it was less a chore and more of a fun activity. Making things for myself is far less interesting than doing something for another. How do you like it by the way? Has there been any issues?"

"None at all. Your digital assistant, Ty, is a bit snarky sometimes, but I think I'm getting used to that."

"I based her on the only person I know well enough to do that sort of thing with."

"And who's that?" Pan asked intrigued.

"My mom."

"Oh, I had no idea," she said caught by surprise. "I didn't mean to call her 'snarky'—

"No, it's alright. She is."

"It sounds like you're really close to her."

"I was when she was alive—"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I keep coming up with all the worst topics today…"

"No, it's fine. I don't mind talking about her. It's been a long time since her passing and yet there are times when it feels like just yesterday I was talking to her. By now, I've lived longer than the time I've actually spent with her, but I've never had a deeper connection with anyone else."

"I'm glad it's not a sore topic. Not everyone feels that way after losing someone so close. I'm guessing she was pretty supportive of, well, being who you were—your orientation."

"Not always. She was so big on having a family. Sometimes it felt like she was depending on me to make that happen. I know she would have loved having grandchildren to dote on."

"There's Aster," Pan said.

"Ah, yes," he replied. For a moment, he looked distant before he seemed to acknowledge her presence again. "Sorry," he said probably noting his long pause. "At the very least, she would have loved to meet her. I think she would have accepted her," he finished a little quieter. "Even after I told her about myself, she never fully believed me. She always thought I'd meet someone who'd change things, who'd make me feel things I had told her I'd never felt before. I never had the heart to argue with her on that point. I didn't want to disappoint her any further."

Pan gave him a look of understanding. "That last part sounds exactly like my mom and my dad for that matter, but especially my mom. She can be so old fashioned sometimes! I love her, don't get me wrong, but she's never put any stock into my asexuality. I clearly just haven't met the right guy. I couldn't explain it to her so that she could understand or else she always had an answer for everything I tried to tell her."

"In the end, the person who knows you best is yourself," Auden said. "People can only see your outward presence and what you do or say, but they can never understand what's inside. Words can only take you so far."

Pan sighed at this, "That's an extremely depressing thing to think about—a bit isolating. Are we all just extremely lonely people deluding ourselves into thinking we have a real connection with someone else?"

"Now that sounds depressing. Sure, we all have our own experiences unique to ourselves, but we are not as different from the next person as we think sometimes. My mother may not have ever understood me on that one point, but she understood me in other ways. And you and I experienced similar things on account of our orientation. I never had to convince you of anything, you simply understood and I'm certain you relate to me on many levels. Perhaps not all, but many. Does that not bring some ounce of comfort?"

"You're being more positive than me, what has the world come to," Pan said with a grin. "I guess I kind of have some things I still want to work out with my mom and it sucks because other than that we get along really well."

"It's difficult not to focus on the one issue you have with someone even if that person is special to you. At the time, I thought it was so frustrating that my mom didn't support me as much as I wanted on that one thing. In hindsight, I think of her far more positively."

"I'm sure she knew that you loved her."

"I'm certain that she did. Or…I just like to believe that. I wasn't exactly there with her when she passed and I'd neglected to visit her while I was in college. I could barely pay for my own living let alone traveling back and forth. But I've had an incredibly long time to think about things like that. The way my mom was, there would have been no reason for her to believe that I suddenly stopped caring about her. I'd told her a few times, despite her protests, that I was going to college so that she wouldn't have to work so hard anymore. She made no attempt to tell me what condition she was in when her health took a turn for the worst. I never knew she was in the hospital until it was too late. I think she did that purposefully."

"She passed while you were in college? I don't know if I would have even been able to continue school if that happened to me. How did you manage?"

"Poorly. I never finished college. But I do find myself employed and well-paid so things did turn out far better than I expected."

"Hold on, you never finished college and you're this smart? You realize you single-handedly created a digital assistant that works miles better than any of the other ones currently on the market? I don't think those A.I.s can change traffic lights or instantly optimize other devices. I knew it, this confirms it—you're a genius."

"Are we back on that again? I do what I can to the best of my ability."

"I'd seriously consider starting your own business. You're working for Capsule Corp and all you do there is tech support. Your talents are being wasted."

He sighed wearily at this just when the waiter came back with their drinks. They'd both ordered water. Auden had also ordered a raspberry lemonade and Pan had gotten Coke. They'd been talking for a while and all they had to show for it were drinks. It would be a long wait. There were probably countless people ahead of them. Pan quickly took a long sip of her water and watched as Auden took the time to place his straw into the cup filled with water.

"Points out of their favor—We're going to be sitting here forever waiting for that food and I'm already getting dizzy from all this hot food smell."

"I'm not surprised. Most restaurants like these have a longer prep time and it's pretty packed in here. This kind of food can't exactly be rushed like a quick burger from the fast-food."

"Oh, gourmet quality then."

"Something like that. I remember Mom taking quite some time to make the food on the few times out the month she had off from work. The place would be smelling like dinner for a good portion of the day."

"We're going to be waiting that long?" Pan asked surprised.

"No—I doubt this place would still be in business, if that was the case. I'm sure the cooks come in quite early to get things started before the restaurant even opens."

Pan took another long swig of her water considering his words and then looking about at the surrounding tables with food already on them. Her eyes were longing. But her mind eventually returned to her last train of thought before she was interrupted with drinks.

"I'm serious about that business thing or better yet, if you don't want to do that, you could be like Bulma, a consultant of some kind who gets paid way too much money or maybe just sell your own patented programs to them—I'm sure they're always looking for new things like that."

"I do like what I do. It's simple and it's still mildly challenging."

Pan gave him a look. He wasn't a very ambitious person, but she supposed this wasn't such a bad thing. She just hated the fact that his intelligence was being wasted.

"I did want to start a business once upon a time when I was younger and more reckless. I wanted to try everything. I wasn't afraid of anything. But then…things just changed. It became easier to simply keep to myself than to draw attention."

"I see," she said slowly. "And what would your business be doing if you'd decided to actually do it?"

"Well," he said dragging out the word, "It would probably be a lot like Capsule Corp, but better. Any industry that they have their hands in, PCs, video games, cellphones, spaceships—I'd be able to create something not only faster and more affordable but emphasize the ease of use and compatibility. CC is guilty for gouging their customers with obscene prices because they're pretty much a monopoly. They use cheap mechanical engineering tricks that force customers to buy new cords and auxiliary equipment that fulfill the same purpose as the last version with each new iteration of their devices. It's ridiculous. You can improve the operating system of a device without changing the overall structure. I didn't actually want to work for CC, but I knew Bulma and I was too desperate to decline her offer to help me. Because I owe her so much, I've not seen fit to find some other employment. I'm by no means irreplaceable, but I'm in some small part repaying my debt."

"Geez, that sounds incredible. Everything you just said. And yeah, now that I think about it, CC really is a monopoly—they're pretty much the gold standard of technology innovation."

"That they are. It's a deserving title. Bulma was always a brilliant inventor. While I had to study for hours on end each day just to understand computers and how they worked, Bulma simply understood things in her own unique way. I hardly ever saw her with a book in hand—she was too busy enjoying life. She had time for that. If anyone is a genius, it would certainly be her. The very picture."

"Bulma is pretty smart. I think she won the Nobel Prize at least twice."

"Three times," he corrected her.

"But that doesn't take away from what you have," Pan reminded him. "Maybe you weren't a prodigy, but you worked hard and that's something to be proud of. That kind of dedication is hard to come by. Bulma probably couldn't even raise a candle to that. You worked harder than most to get to where you are. Against all odds, here you are. I would root for someone like that. It's inspiring. That business that you just described is the most ballsy thing I've heard in a long time. If anyone could do it, it would be you."

Just then, the food finally came and Pan almost died and went to heaven. She was thanking the poor waiter profusely. Pan had several plates of meat, starches and vegetables. Auden had a modest plate of greens, cornbread, mac and cheese, and fried chicken. She attempted to keep her composure, she attempted to even still hold a conversation with Auden, but she eventually found herself devouring the food at an alarming rate. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Auden grinning at her antics, but even this discovery didn't deter her.

"This food is perfection," Auden said as she started on her last plate, "I can certainly understand your voracious consumption," he finished with a hint of mirth.

It wasn't until she was finished with her food that she even regarded him at length. He'd already cut into the cornbread and that was likely the thing he was chewing on at the moment. Pan noted that this must have been his favorite item on the plate and she could plainly see that he was enjoying it. That slight curve of his mouth was evident enough.

"I could probably eat three more plates of that," Pan said as she tried to regain her composure by sipping daintily on her Coke.

"Order as much as you want. I'm in no hurry. Maybe I'll get myself a second if I can manage this one."

"Nah, that's alright," Pan said suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious about her very empty plates and Auden making his way slowly through his one plate.

"Come, Pan, you don't have to put on a show of restraint. I'm the last person who would ever think to judge you."

Pan sighed a this. "Hey, didn't you say I could try some of that cornbread?"

"I did," he said, stopping himself before he placed the last of it onto his fork. He slid his plate within her reach. Instead of using her own fork, however, she deliberately used his. She wasn't sure if he would take issue with this, but she went for it anyway. She took her time sliding her lips over the fork and then gently she placed it back on the plate, chewing at a pace much slower than usual—she was taste testing, of course.

Auden was watching her patiently, but she didn't feel anything remotely like disgust from him. He seemed more curious than anything else. "So what do you think?" he asked startling her a little out of her wandering thoughts. Had he noticed anything at all?

"It's soft and buttery and sweet—not bad," Pan said back, "I wouldn't say it's my favorite though."

"That's alright, but at least it was somewhat to your liking."

Pan watched him slide the plate back to its previous position and with that same fork which had been placed so tenderly in her mouth, he began on the mac and cheese without qualm. Now that the indirect kiss was complete, she couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. It was a little embarrassing frankly—at least the sensible part of her mind thought so. Yet this did not stop her from blushing, apparently a thing that she couldn't stop herself from doing. She found him looking at her questioningly. Could he possibly read her mind at this moment?

"You're blushing again, but for reasons unknown this time," he commented.

"Oh, it's nothing," Pan said in a tone higher pitched than usual. She couldn't bring herself to say it just in case he might think it was ridiculous or that he might panic if he realized what happened.

He looked at her quizzically. "Well, alright," he said slowly. "Feel free to order more if you want."

"I think I will order something else," Pan said finally.

When the waiter came back over to check in on them, Pan proceeded to trying other things on the menu. She was feeling adventurous and her other three entrees had turned out quite well. Perhaps southern cuisine was something she could get into, but Japanese would always be her go to. Because of how long it seemed to take to make such food, it made it less appealing to make at home. Perhaps on a special occasion and she'd prepped for it beforehand, she might attempt cooking it. As she waited for the order and continued to chat with Auden, she stopped in midsentence explaining the difference between Udon and Soba noodle when she heard Malachi's voice, Malachi's singing voice to be more specific.

She recognized it immediately as soon as he uttered the first note. It was a recording, of course, but of a very high quality. Music had been playing the whole time overhead. She hadn't paid it any mind until that moment. She forgot everything she had been about to say as she was serenaded by his sweet tones. She'd abstained from listening to his music for a long while as the constant reminder became a bit too much to handle. After so long, however, she felt deprived of his music and its sudden presence resonated deeply with her. His light and airy tones were charged effortlessly with genuine passion and love—it was so evident in his voice far more evident than most singers. It caused her pause. All she could do was listen. She doubted anyone else felt quite so in awe as she did then, but she didn't care. She wanted his voice to surround her, to swallow her whole. Her eyes were closed as the song continued and his emotions intensified as it usually did in the second verse and the third repetition of the hook or chorus.

"Perfect," Pan breathed as the song inevitably ended.

"One of my favorites, perhaps because it's one of his few songs that wasn't overplayed on the radio," Auden said.

"Oh," she said opening her eyes now. "You listen to Malachi's music?"

"Aster adores him. Every time there was a new album, I certainly knew about it. His voice is quite distinct—it's difficult to mistake him for anyone else. Now, if you've been paying attention to the radio these days, his presence is felt in all the new songs that came out in the past year across all genres perhaps as a homage—it's become more obvious though it's been happening for years. Every time you walk into the music section of a store, he's in the front and every single album he's ever come out with is available. I've seen at least two different Best of collections along with re-releases of his albums with previously unreleased tracks, demos, and even not quite finished tracks. They're selling out in surprising numbers."

"I've stopped listening to the radio because of that. I needed to get away from his music for a while, but it seems it's alright now. After his death was made public…" She closed her eyes and looked away.

"He was given a far more befitting funeral that was televised worldwide, at the very least."

"Far more befitting? It was a nightmare. Media went crazy. They were out of their minds and they were far more demanding than they'd ever been before."

"Could you blame them?" Auden said calmly. "Malachi was idolized and cherished across the globe. I know it's easy to forget being in such close contact with him."

"Quint is a real piece of work. That bastard blatantly monopolized on his death. It was supposed to be kept a secret just in case we could figure out how to bring him back. Then he just went behind our backs and let the cat out of the bag. Now if he ever came back, he wouldn't be able to resume his life as he left it."

"Do you really believe that's possible?"

Pan looked at him then. "Have you heard of the dragon balls?"

"Bulma explained it to me. Sounds too good to be true, but they don't exist anymore."

"No. In the past, we used them all the time to bring people back. Vegeta and Bulma said they were working out a way to change things."

"I see."

"You don't believe any of this, do you?"

"I believe that you do just as the rest of your friends. As far as I know, Bulma hasn't completely lost her mind. But I don't believe such tales. If it sounds too good to be true, it often is. Once someone dies, that's it. They are simply gone and you're only left with their memories to suffice until one day you also take leave from the world."

Pan looked down at the table at this, knowing that he wasn't completely wrong. That was how life worked; they'd simply been cheating the system for far too long. She wondered what made them special. What made them more deserving of resurrection than the rest of the world. They'd used the dragon balls to revive entire populations a few times, but it didn't excuse how they'd gather the dragon balls to selfishly revive a singular person on several occasions. If she could, she'd do it again just for Malachi. In this instance, she was sure the rest of the world would want that as well.

"I haven't given up hope," Pan said.

He was still working on his food. She had finished her next round of entrees. "That's admirable, but I worry that you're setting yourself up for failure, believing in something that can never be."

"You're just from the outside—you wouldn't understand."

"I understand that these mystical objects no longer exist on this planet. Even if they did as they said, that avenue is now lost. What else is there to do?"

"New Namek," Pan said determinedly, "A planet inhabited by an alien race called the Namekians."

Auden looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And the dragon balls reside there?"

"Yes, they should. The only problem is, we don't know how to get there. We have no idea where it's located. Dende doesn't either or at least he says he doesn't."

"Dende?"

"A Namekian. He lives here on Earth."

"Does he? Perhaps somewhere out of sight from the layman."

"Well, he's definitely out of reach from most people. Maybe I'll take you to see him one day."

"It's not an urgent need of mine," Auden replied.

"Anyways, Bulma and Vegeta are working on it."

"They're searching for a needle in a haystack and they don't know what that needle looks like. I think it's easy to underestimate how vast space truly is. I can believe that there are other planets out there that can sustain lifeforms different from us, but I doubt that planet is anywhere close to us. We would have known by now. Give human astrophysicists some credit."

His words held an air of truth to them. It was difficult to completely dismiss, but she didn't want to believe that. "Bulma is a genius. She'll figure something out."

"I think it's important we focus on the here and now. What I said about the funeral, I think it was necessary. As far as I know, Malachi cared about his fans and he would not have wanted to exclude them from something like this. I don't know if you watched it on television, but it was a tasteful farewell. He was honored and celebrated. Even if in the end this Quint benefits from the increased interest and sales of his music, I think it is quite special to be remembered so fondly by so many people. I doubt his presence in the world will ever truly be forgotten as his contributions to the music industry has had far reaching effects. Now everyone can properly mourn his death because it was made public knowledge—somehow, I don't think Malachi would have been upset about that."

"I suppose that's one way to look at it," Pan said. "I wonder how Bra is doing?"

"Perhaps you should call her. I've had no further contact with her. Bulma came in personally to tell me that she wouldn't be coming back to work so she has long since terminated employment with CC."

"It's been difficult getting in contact with her. She won't answer my calls and I took that as a signal that she didn't want to be bothered. I've left her alone. She has her family after all. I'm sure they're looking after her."

"Yes—family is a good thing to have after losing someone so close to share in your grief."

By now, Auden had finally finished his food and he was not up for anything else. They waited for another few minutes for the waiter to come back so that the order could be paid for. Pan watched as he left a substantial tip for the waiter and left his silver credit card for the waiter to take up.

"I don't get it," Pan said suddenly as something just came to her mind, "You live in a really small apartment yet you said you were well-paid? Just haven't gotten around to getting a house?" After she said this, she wondered if she was being a bit too nosy, but Auden didn't seem to mind as he answered without hesitation.

"It takes quite a bit of work for someone to maintain a household—work that I have no patience for. I would also have no experience whatsoever in mowing lawns or cleaning gutters. It would just be me living there, really. Aster comes and goes—I doubt I'd have the heart to put her to work in that way. A house just isn't practical or necessary."

"Hm, I never thought of that. I've just always lived in a house. Even though I live in an apartment now, I always knew that eventually I'd find myself a nice house to settle down in one day."

She was talking about living arrangements with Auden. Her treacherous mind was already entertaining the idea of living with Auden in a nice little house together. That was a bit much for someone she wasn't quite sure she was dating even now. They were just friends right now—close friends, she supposed. He didn't think of her like that. She was sure he didn't fantasize about such silly things. His brilliant mind didn't have time for those kinds of things. He was probably thinking about things that she couldn't even hope to fathom.

They left the restaurant feeling quite satisfied with their meal. Pan climbed into the car with Auden even though, at this point, she probably could have just taken off back to her own place. He didn't mention this as they drove the short distance back to his apartment in comfortable silence. They'd talked with surprising ease for a long span of time that evening and Pan felt that as far as conversation went, he had been quite engaging. Maybe he was getting better at that sort of thing or maybe this was just a fluke. He had been in a good mood—that was undeniable.

Pan stepped out of the car and walked with him to his apartment. They said their goodbyes and finally parted ways. It was almost eleven at night and they both still had early starts. They'd been out longer than usual on account of the long wait times and the lateness of when they decided to have dinner. All in all, this had been one of her better days to date after "the incident". Perhaps it was still possible for her to find some sort of happiness even without Malachi being around.


	3. Snip Snip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auden gets a new haircut. Pan checks in with Bra.

It took Pan awhile to realize that her phone—the one that Auden had given to her—was self-charging. She never knew just how much charge the phone had just that it was always working. Questioning Auden later revealed that the phone itself constantly recycled the energy that was already there and replaced it slowly anytime the sunlight touched the screen. Pan wasn't even sure how this was possible, but she couldn't argue with what was in front of her. She began to appreciate the device more and more. She even pondered getting rid of her own phone, but the questionable nature of the device still concerned her. How would she even explain it to other people if she whipped it out in public? Even if she was thoroughly impressed with the "phone" Auden had given her, she felt a little dubious about having both phone and internet service for free. Maybe she was doing something illegal. It still felt like something she should keep under wraps and she did for the most part. However, in the past week, she'd used her phone at work to fix a malfunctioning X-ray machine—it had been the only one they had and it would have been beyond expensive to repair. No one suspected a thing aside from people commenting on how responsive the machine was these days.

On a Friday night, when she was catching up with a few television shows, she received a phone call from Auden. She answered her phone in record time. It had only been a week since the "date" at the restaurant. She was hoping they might do something like that again, but she could never decide when it was the right time.

"Hey there," she said with a smile in her voice.

"Hello," he answered in his usual tone that suggested either boredom or disinterest. "Sounds like I caught you at a good time."

"You always seem to have good timing. Of course, Friday night is a surefire."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So what did you want?"

"I suppose this is a strange request, but I'd rather ask than forever wondering what would have happened."

"Just ask," Pan said with a sigh when he paused for longer than usual.

"Could you cut my hair?" he asked plainly.

Pan was too flabbergasted to answer back immediately, but she did eventually. "You're not serious, are you? I've never really done that before. I mean, I guess I've given my own hair a trim before, but nothing as drastic as what you're probably asking for. What are you asking for anyway? Something really short?"

"It's not something I've thought about extensively, but something that isn't a buzz-cut."

"That really narrows it down," Pan said sardonically.

"I don't really have a preference aside from that."

"So you're saying you're prepared to have me cut your hair any way I see fit as long as it isn't a buzzcut?"

"Exactly."

"Yep, that is a strange request, but I'll take you up on it."

"Really?" he asked with a hint of surprise—Pan was glad to hear it there in his voice.

"Of course! I'll just watch a few tutorials and go from there. Sounds like fun. I have to make a disclaimer though—I'm not a professional, so this whole thing is all at your own risk. As long as you're okay with that…"

"I'm fine with that arrangement."

"Though I'm not sure why. I mean, you do know I'll have to be…touching your hair a lot which is attached to a scalp. My hands will be in very close proximity. And, well…"

"I don't mind."

"You don't?" Pan questioned him again.

"I've grown used to you. I should be able to handle it."

"But…are you sure?" she asked once again, making doubly sure he knew what he was getting into. This could potentially be a trying endeavor, even more so if he couldn't mentally handle her closeness.

"I trust you," Auden finally said.

That one phrase took Pan by surprise and she was quiet for longer than usual.

"Pan?" he asked, when there was no response from her in a long while.

"Still here—just trying to digest. For the record, I trust you too."

"I've suspected. You've been quite open about yourself though I haven't returned the favor."

"Well, that's only because I'm an open book in general," Pan said with a laugh, "And that wasn't to force you to be that way—that's just how I am. I've always been that."

"Perhaps that is a better way to go through life. Mom was always a secretive person and she was forever worried about 'our business getting out on the street'. I always wondered who would care if that was the case, but that's how she wanted things, that's how I've always been. Other people knowing too much about you was considered a 'bad' thing. Maybe it was a way to keep the upper hand. Likely from would-be criminals who would use such information for their own less than savory needs."

"Well, that's definitely practical. I guess I never had to worry about that sort of thing."

"Something tells me that the worries you had were far different from mine. People breaking into your home was probably not one of them."

"I can't imagine how that must have been like for you."

"It's better that way. Trust me."

"Well, now that we've completely derailed the main point, I'll get on those videos. First, I have to ask, do you have a blow-dryer?"

"I do," he replied evenly.

"Hair shears?"

"An entire collection of a professional quality."

"Oh, really? That's even better."

"I've always tried to maintain my own hair though with varying results. I've never been good at it."

"Well, don't worry, I'm a natural—I think."

"No worse than me, I'm sure."

"Okay, so shears, blow-dryer—I'm sure you have some hair bands, a fine-tooth comb, right?"

"I do," he confirmed.

"Oh, and a spray water bottle?"

"Not that, but I could empty a spray bottle and put water in it."

"That's perfect, I think that's all I need off the top of my head."

"Well, then, take your time prepping yourself. We don't need to do this immediately, it's already getting a bit late today."

"Will you be up for long?"

"I probably will. Offices are closed on the weekend."

"Then in that case, I'll be there in an hour as an expert hair cutter."

"I await your arrival."

"See you soon."

They hung up and Pan was immediately giddy. She always became that way when it came to Auden, doubly so if she'd be meeting with him face-to-face. For some reason, it felt like a rare occurrence despite always seeing him at lunch. Most of their communication was through text messages or calls. Hearing his voice directly was far different from a cellphone. Determinedly, she searched the internet for videos and advice that could help her. She already had a vague idea of how it was done. She'd watched Bra have her hair cut rather short once upon a time and she had trimmed her own hair for as long as she could remember—her mother had showed her how. A big chop like Auden was suggesting was still a little out of her wheelhouse, but she could manage. If it had to do with him, then she could most certainly find a way. She looked first for a hairstyle she'd like to see on him. He'd given her carte blanche as far as that was concerned. She too didn't want to see him in a buzzcut so they were at least of a same mind as to what the end result would be. She eventually found a scissor cut style that didn't seem too difficult to do and went from there. She saved two different videos on her phone after watching them to completion a few times. She'd need to refer back to them. Then she read through some hair cutting tips and tricks articles until she felt she was ready. This took more than an hour to do—time seemed to be slipping by quickly.

Pan called Auden one more time to make sure he was still awake and to ask if he had a few more other necessary items in his possession. Confirming this, she took off for his place. It was a cool night and it was refreshing feeling the air against her skin. Her giddiness had subsided by the time she was knocking on his door which was probably for the best considering what she was about to do. Her hands needed to be steady. It was a bit like surgery only without the blood and gore. She needed to be as precise as possible. Watching the videos, it didn't seem like an impossible task. All she had to do was take it one step at a time.

He welcomed her in and informed her that he'd already washed his hair. Good. A step that she could skip altogether. His hair was still a bit damp but knowing the slow pace she would be going, she would need that spray bottle to keep it wet enough for her purposes. Auden had everything set out on the dining room table.

"So where did you want to do this?" Pan asked.

"The dining room—it has more chairs. The bathroom is a bit cramped. If that's alright with you," he said.

"That's fine. I pictured me standing up and you sitting down. Now, Auden, are you ready for this? It could take a while."

"What would it look like if you came all this way, having spent your personal time looking up tutorials all for me to back out of the whole thing? I'm practically obligated at this point. Don't worry. I'll be fine," Auden told her reassuringly.

"Alright," Pan said drawing out the word a bit, "But if you ever feel at all uncomfortable just let me know. I mean, if I don't finish it tonight, there's always tomorrow."

"I'm sure it won't come to that," he said calmly.

"You seem awfully confident for someone who's going to have their hair cut by a complete amateur."

"Let's just start before you manage to talk me out of this."

"Aw, there it is, a little healthy dose of concern," Pan said with a grin, "Now I feel better."

Auden sat down at the nearest chair. "Better to focus on the positive."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were an optimist."

"I try to be, but it's all too easy to think the opposite."

Pan was standing behind him as she examined the items on the table. "Very," she agreed. "Level with me, what exactly is your plan if I mess this up?"

"You won't, but if you do, I'll just have to go with a buzzcut and wait for it to grow back out."

Pan shook her head. "I would hate that. I can hardly picture it. Everyone at work would probably be horrified."

"I doubt it'd be so dramatic. People might initially be surprised, but soon they'd get over it. They have their own worries and concerns to deal with. What I look like will be a passing interest at best."

Something told her that if he had any admirers at work he was totally oblivious to them. Who wouldn't at least find him pleasing to the eyes from a distance? Maybe that was just her bias talking. She took a hair tie in hand intending to tie his hair up in sections so that she could cut it shorter and shorter by section. She was trying to be as careful as possible.

"Alright, I'm about to place my hands on your hair," Pan warned the other.

"As can be expected," Auden replied with a subtle hint of sarcasm and annoyance.

She was a bit surprised to hear it there in his tone. She wondered if she was worrying a little too much over him. Seeing one panic attack was enough—she did not fancy witnessing another.

"But I appreciate the concern," he said a moment later, probably realizing his shortness.

"It's practically my middle name," she replied with a smile.

Without further ado, she began. She let her fingers run slowly through his hair, a thing that she had wanted to do for a long time. It was blessedly soft just like she imagined it to be, perhaps even better than her imagination. There was so much volume. It was thicker than she suspected, much more than the people getting their hair done on the videos had been. It would simply mean that she had significantly more strands of hair to work with. Even wet, she could tell that his hair could easily get tangled. It took her a moment to realize that he had become quite tense—his shoulders were squared up as if bracing against something.

"Are you alright?" Pan asked pausing now in her perusal. She'd been idling in his hair longer than what was necessary, but she'd gotten lost in the texture. This was, in fact, the first time she had touched any part of him at all for so long. It was exciting.

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "Please, continue."

He didn't seem fine. She realized that this was probably difficult for him and no amount of 'are you okay' was going to change that. He'd resigned himself to this. It shed new light on the reason he'd asked her to do this in the first place. With a total stranger, he wouldn't stand a chance. He was barely holding it together as it was. Maybe barely was too harsh a word, but the tenseness never went away, at least initially. Carefully, she cut the long shafts of his hair and then placed it on the table for him to see.

"All that thick lovely hair," Pan commented.

"Good riddance," Auden replied. "I've wasted too much of my life washing and drying it. It takes hours to dry on its own."

"You know most people would kill for that kind of volume."

"Sure, until they're tasked with maintaining it."

Pan chuckled at this. "I wouldn't mind."

With the initial chop done, now came the harder part of shaping up his hair. Very slowly she went around his hair with the shears trying to get the ends at the same length with a technique of cutting that didn't make it look so blunt. It took longer than what the tutorial suggested because she was nervous and continually combing down his hair slowly with a fine-tooth comb evaluating the length and the look of each cut. She rewetted his hair several times. When she checked on Auden, she noticed that he had relaxed a little, but he was still quite rigid. He hadn't said much and she was concentrating too intently to keep up a meaningful conversation. It was a comfortable silence between them.

After she was done varying the length of hair in the back, she looked at it once again to make sure she'd tapered the hair just the way she wanted. "Perfect," she said to herself. Now she started combing out the front of his hair. She would have to stand in front of him for this. The front part was surprisingly long, reaching down past his nose. She noticed his eyes were closed, but it didn't seem like it was because of the hair in the way.

"Tired?" Pan asked as she began slowly snipping off the ends.

"Just resting my eyes," he replied wearily.

"Same difference," Pan said with a short laugh. "Speaking of resting," she began as a question popped into her head out of curiosity. "How's that been for you lately? Sometimes you text me pretty late at night. Not that I don't appreciate the thought, but sometimes I leave you hanging 'cus I can't keep my eyes open."

"Some good days, some bad days," he said back.

"Is it work related? It must be pretty hard working at CC. Not just anyone gets hired there."

"Sometimes I do worry about things at work—not the work itself just the people. I wonder if I've come off as offensive to someone or didn't explain myself clearly. I wonder if people hate it when I come in and try to engage in small talk or like it more when I just mind my own business. Then some days I don't care at all and I can fall asleep just like that."

"It's good to do self-reflection, but it can easily get out of hand. That's just me speaking from experience. I focus on things that I shouldn't. That's not the thing that always gets me though. Every once in a while, I have these weird, often scary dreams that wake me up too early and then I can't sleep for the rest of the night. Does that ever happen to you?"

"More times than I'd like to admit. I wouldn't describe them as weird, however. I know what it is I'm dreaming about. It's the same thing over and over again, only changing in subtle ways, yet it always has the same effect on me."

Pan noticed that he did not elaborate on this and she did not push him to do so. After all, she hadn't, but it was probably obvious what her dreams would be about. She didn't want to say his name aloud; not right now. However, she was completely in the dark as to what could be bothering Auden. It could be something incredibly mundane made to be unsettling in his own mind or it could be something truly horrible. Pan continued trimming his hair, one small section at a time.

"The sound of hair being snipped is rather nice—not as harsh as cutting paper," Auden noted.

"Yeah, I have to admit, I'm having fun doing this. It's kind of relaxing."

She didn't mention the fact that he didn't look totally relaxed, but she realized that he was doing incredibly well considering that this whole thing could have devolved rather quickly from the very beginning. She tried to work faster, but she could only do it to a certain degree as she was a complete novice and she wanted to make sure she wasn't doing anything wrong. It took her another hour to cut enough length in a way that looked natural and not blunt and amateur. She began the process of shaping it up which involved a lot of combing back out again. She warned him each time she had to spray his hair down with water again. He flinched every time she did so regardless—it likely wasn't his favorite thing for her to do, but he was a good sport. He never complained even if she wished he did. Pan had a feeling that there were a lot of things which he kept to himself so as not to upset others. It sometimes made it hard to be completely accommodating to him. Even if it was something he considered petty, she wanted to know.

It took her some time, but she was on the homestretch. She had a few snips left and she wanted to make doubly sure she was finished before she actually announced it. Something told her that she'd be pushing it if she announced this, but then realized she missed a part and then had to re-engage his hair. Pan realized that this whole thing was likely quite the ordeal for him. She didn't want to make it worse.

As she peered critically at her work in the front, silently considering if anything more needed to be done, she found her own face quite close to his. She tried to ignore this, but she'd never been that close to him before especially not to his face. His eyes were still closed thankfully. Her eyes betrayed her as they travelled to his lips, ones which were probably neglected and had not touched another in a very long time yet they looked soft and inviting. He'd never agree to kissing her and she would never betray his trust or rigid boundaries, but that didn't stop her from fantasizing. In fact, she found that her own lips had already moved dangerously close to his and that she'd stopped breathing altogether. His eyes were still closed. She felt her heart racing despite knowing that she wouldn't go through with it. They were so close, however. Closer than she'd ever been to him. It was enthralling. It took all her will to pull back again and clear her throat.

"Alright, Auden, I'm done."

He didn't respond back at all. It took her a moment to realize that he'd dozed off. She wondered if he would even notice if her lips briefly touched his, but she shook her head at the notion. That would be wrong. That would be taking advantage.

"Auden?" Pan asked shaking him lightly on the shoulder.

It hadn't taken much to rouse him. "Oh, sorry," he said quickly as he sat up a bit straighter.

"No need to apologize. It's been a long night and probably a long day for you. I finished," she said with a smile. "Want to go see what it looks like?"

He, of course, did not return her smile, but she was used to this. "More than anything else," he replied. "Thank you for doing all this."

"Don't thank me yet," she said continuing to grin.

Pan wanted to be there to see his reaction though she was sure he wouldn't be putting on much of a show. She was satisfied with even the subtlest of facial cues that he often gave. She followed him to the small bathroom that was at least big enough to fit two people. She couldn't tell initially if it was his cup of tea, but he did run his hand through his hair a few times.

"This is nice," he finally said, "But it would take some getting used to."

As Pan looked at it in the mirror, she found herself falling in love with the new look. He didn't look like himself. He was someone else, someone who was ready to try new things. His eyes sparkled and his blond hair shimmered in the presence of all the strong lighting in the bathroom. His hair framed his face perfectly and softened his somewhat angular features. She wanted to run her hand through his hair, but she resisted the urge. She was quickly getting used to this new Auden.

"Seems thanking you wasn't too premature," he said turning to her. "I'm grateful, it's just like a professional."

"Oh," she said with a playful grin, waving him away, "A real professional would not have taken hours doing this."

"Even so." Pan watched him reach for his back pocket. She hoped he wasn't taking out what she thought he was taking out. Her hopes were dashed when he took out twenty-dollar bills. Her eyebrows furrowed at this. "Not that it matters. You didn't have to do any of this. I was going to pay you either way."

"You don't need to pay me," Pan said with a lump forming in her throat. Were they friends or not? She hadn't asked for payment at all. That wasn't the reason she'd gone through all that trouble. Did he not see that? Or were they far less familiar with each other than she thought?

"I insist. It's the least I can do. You took so much time out of your day to help me on such short notice. I'm sure there were other things you probably would have much rather spent your free time on the weekend doing, but you still humored me. Not to mention, you really did a good job."

Pan frowned at this. "That's where you're wrong, Auden. There was nothing else I'd rather be doing. Any excuse to hang out with you for hours and hours is a time well spent. This wasn't some compromise for me. I wanted to do this out of the kindness of my heart and yet you cheapen all of it with money as if I need that for some sort of validation, as if you feel it's necessary in order for me to feel like this had any meaning or fulfillment at all."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel that way," he said putting the money away, but that wasn't enough to improve her mood. "I know we're friends and all that, but I don't want to wound up having you feel like you're being used. If I'm not giving you anything back in return, then that's exactly what I'm doing. Monetary compensation isn't a bad thing—it just shows my appreciation. I do appreciate that you did all this because you really wanted to. I knew that had to be the case or else you wouldn't have agreed in the first place. It's not something that you asked for, but this money was out of the kindness of my heart as well and I give it freely without resentment or hesitation."

Her lips were pursed now as she walked out of the bathroom with crossed arms. "Please keep your money." She heard a few footsteps towards her, but she forced herself not to look back. She wanted to make her utter annoyance abundantly clear.

"Sorry if I offended you."

"It's not if, Auden, you did."

She heard the other sigh wearily at this. "Well, then I'll know better what to do in a similar situation with you."

His tones sounded dismissive. Even if he apologized, she wondered if he was really understanding her point of view.

"I don't mean to rush you out, but it's getting really late. I can't remember the last time I actually stayed up so long after midnight."

"Oh," Pan said glancing at her cellphone. It was nearly 3:30 AM in the morning. "Guess it is a bit late." She noticed that he didn't even begin to offer that she stay the night. He didn't offer the couch and he certainly wouldn't suggest they share a bed. None of this was surprising, but why was this suddenly rubbing her the wrong way?

He'd made his way past her and was putting away the things he'd taken out for her to style his hair. She bet having her stay hadn't even crossed his mind. He was too busy trying to clean up, making it so she hadn't been there at all in the first place. God forbid she left a lingering presence. Her eyes narrowed at this.

"What if I stayed the night?" Pan asked. Her arms were still crossed.

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Auden said without even bothering to turn to her.

"Why wouldn't it be? Are you tired of being around me? Have I worn out my welcome?"

"No," Auden replied as he continued his cleaning endeavors, but he eventually turned to her completely. There was a good distance between them and he did not even begin to bridge that gap. Pan simply stood her ground. She couldn't fully understand her annoyance knowing that Auden was just being Auden yet it was still there nonetheless. "Because I'm barely holding it together as it is." He leaned back a little on the table behind him and there was a weariness in his features that she'd not seen before. She was already starting to regret her confrontational tones. "I know that sounds pathetic. Being so physically close to you for so long, for hours and hours, feeling your hands, even sometimes your breathing was unnerving. Even when I reminded myself over and over again that it was just you, it only slightly made a difference. I had to keep imagining that I was elsewhere, anywhere but trapped in a seat with someone relentlessly touching my hair. Then, at the same time, I liked that you were here with me and that I wasn't alone tonight as I spend most nights. I liked being able to talk to you instead of in a text where I have to imagine your voice. I didn't want that to end. I never want that to end. It's fine if you don't want to put up with me anymore. Most people don't and I don't blame them. I can hardly put up with myself half the time."

"I was being unfair," Pan began shaking her head. Hearing him say those things and confirming that he did not at all like her physical closeness made it more real. She'd been enjoying herself, but he'd been suffering the whole time. "I…didn't mean to make you feel that way."

"Listen," he said pulling away from the table, "Stay if you feel you must. There's blankets and comforters in the hallway closet. I'm practically falling asleep on my feet at this point and I do have some things to take care of tomorrow so I apologize if this feels abrupt." He'd already began making his way towards the hallway—he'd made it there in just a couple of steps.

"Wait, I—you don't have to do that. I didn't want to make you feel like you need to do something you're not comfortable with."

"It's too late for that kind of talk, isn't it, Pan?" He'd paused in the hallway, "The last thing I want is for you to think I don't care. Make yourself at home," he said with a dismissive hand.

Pan was momentarily mute as she watched him disappear further down the hall. He was freely inviting her to stay—the very thing she didn't think he'd ever do, but somehow it didn't feel right. In all truthfulness, he wouldn't be completely at ease and Pan had told herself many times over that she didn't want to rush things with Auden. She really couldn't if she was being honest with herself. She wasn't used to the slow pace of their relationship or whatever one might call what they had, but wasn't this what she'd wanted? How many times had she fantasized about someone who was like her and who didn't feel the need to check off all the usual boxes to make it feel "normal"? She didn't think it was possible. Every person wanted similar things from a relationship: closeness, companionship, and trust. No one had the patience to ease into it and everyone needed those things quickly because those who were single seeking another were usually quite lonely people from the outset.

"Wait," Pan said again. She didn't think she'd been heard as she followed him back. His room was at the end of the hall and his door was wide open. Able to see fairly well into the dark, she saw that he'd already fallen onto the bed on his back. She stopped right outside his door knowing that she'd not been invited in. "Hey, I'll be heading back home—I think I like my bed a lot more," Pan said with a light chuckle.

"That's fine," he said wearily. His eyes were closed, he hadn't bothered looking at her.

"But you need to lock the door before I leave. I would hate to leave it open overnight."

"Think I'll survive the night," he murmured. He'd barely parted his lips to speak, but she'd heard well enough.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be caught by surprise tomorrow."

There was no response to this. She waited and still there was silence. He was asleep, turned to his side and slightly curled. How she longed to join him on that bed. He was such a solitary person, she felt an even stronger urge to change this. Surely no one liked being that solitary even he'd admitted to that. Something told her, however, that cuddling was not on the table or if it was, it would be a very long time before he would tolerate it. She still hadn't decided if she was okay with this. She'd known these things—his aversion to touch, his aversion to physical intimacy—and yet she'd remained in his orbit. She couldn't decide if it was out of desperation or actual attraction. Maybe it was both.

She stayed at his door for longer than she liked to admit with her mind fantasizing what could be happening now. He was completely oblivious to it. He had no longings like that. He was fine just as he was. She eventually slipped out of the apartment and zipped across the sky back to her place. Even if she couldn't do all the things she wanted, she still felt that it had been a good day. Any time she spent with Auden was a time well spent.

* * *

Pan welcomed the next day with wide open arms. She had nothing in particular planned that day and it sounded like Auden would be busy, at least for part of the day. She'd contact him later. They'd spent a good portion of the night together—she didn't want to come off as too clingy. For a while, she thought about spending some time in the gravity room that Bulma had helped her create for herself once upon a time. It was her go-to time waster if she had nothing better to do and more often than not, she didn't.

Then she thought about Bra. Sending her text messages apparently wasn't enough; she'd never text back. By now, Pan had sent out at least a dozen over the past year inquiring how she was. Pan interpreted that as her needing space, but how long would that sentiment go on? Auden had brought up Bra a couple times in the past. He was concerned about her, but he didn't know her well enough to do anything about it, clearly hinting that she should check in on her. Of course, no one from the Brief family had said anything to her. They had their own little ecosystem, their own little world, and in many ways, they were quite secretive of their personal affairs. She wasn't part of their family even if she felt she was close friends with Bra.

There was really only one thing to do and she had the time now to do it. Pan closed her eyes as she sought out Bra's presence. It stood out from others. She was the only other female half-Saiyan out there after all. After pinpointing her, Pan took her time taking a steaming hot bath with bath salts and making herself a good, hearty breakfast. Finally, in the late morning, she took off towards Bra's relaxed ki signature. At least she wasn't stressed out. However, her mood was a different story altogether. It was a mixture of many things—too much for her to sort out.

Pan found herself at Malachi's place. She'd been inside many times before when Malachi was alive. She'd spent long nights there comforting him when there was no one else to do it. Malachi had suffered deeply here and he died here as well—it was strange that Bra would choose this place to be. Something told her that she wasn't simply visiting. It was beginning to worry her.

Pan texted Bra that she was standing right outside, but after waiting for almost thirty minutes, she knew her message would remain unanswered just like all the others. Maybe her phone was turned off. Pan had already flown over the gate so she proceeded to knocking on the large, wooden double doors to the mansion. She even rang the doorbell—nothing—but Pan knew she was inside. Finally, she tried the doorknob before doing anything more drastic. It was open. The door easily swung back on its hinges as if welcoming her in. "Oh," Pan said to herself, startled. Her eyes took in the familiar sights of the house. It had been a long time. It brought back memories—she wasn't altogether sure she was ready for it. Any moment now, she'd turn the corner and find Malachi standing there. Maybe he was in the kitchen cooking some masterful dish. Or maybe he was in his living room watching some dark content exploring the depravity of the human condition. Maybe the television wasn't on at all and he was staring into the blank screen deep in thought. Or maybe the place was full of blaring music and he laid there sprawled in the center of the house enjoying the melodic sounds. Wait—was there music playing or was her mind playing tricks on her?

She followed where the sounds were coming from and walked up the spiraling stairs to the second floor. She was moving towards Malachi's room. The door to his room was open. When she peered inside, she found Bra lying on her back on the bed with eyes gazing vacantly at the ceiling. Her knees were drawn up and her arms laid spread out on either side, her fine blue hair spread out widely beneath her. Music was playing loudly from speakers she couldn't see. Currently something midtempo and somewhat smooth was playing. It wasn't Malachi, but Pan imagined it was something he would have liked. Bra hadn't so much as acknowledged her, but she'd now been standing there for over a minute.

"Bra?" Pan said trying to get her attention. She started moving towards her. Bra's eyes looked over at her though she still looked to be in some sort of trance. "What are you doing?"

"You're killing the vibe," Bra said with some annoyance in her tone.

"Killing the what?" Pan asked.

Bra sighed exasperatedly. She reached over to her phone which was on the nightstand beside her, pressed a button and the music stopped. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Bra said as she sat up, pulling her legs a little closer to herself.

Bra's eyes roamed quite a bit up and down her body far more intently than what Pan was used to. She felt as if she was being evaluated for a modeling agency. Did her fashion today hold up to Bra's high standards? Pan seriously doubted it as she'd not put much thought into what she was wearing—a plain red shirt with some dark blue capris. This went on for a moment too long. Pan noted a strange interest in her bright blue eyes.

"Come over here already," Bra said patting the bed, "It won't bite you."

Pan wasn't sure what to make of her, but she wasn't too keen on sitting on that particular bed. "I don't know…" she said shaking her head.

"It's fine. I changed everything ages ago. I even got a new bed. Not that it really matters, if you think about it."

Pan hesitated a moment longer and then stepped over closer before officially sitting down.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Bra said with a teasing grin.

Pan's eyebrows furrowed a little at her. She seemed fine, cheerful even. Was she missing something? "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

"I've had it turned off for some time now. I didn't really want to talk to anyone. This phone," Bra said holding it up so she could see better—Pan recognized it immediately before Bra uttered her next words, "it's Malachi's. I was finally able to get it back. It was taken in for evidence, but Mom was able to get it back for me. I haven't managed to look through everything—Oh, don't look at me like that, he wouldn't care if I did that. I did it all the time when he was alive. He told me his password and he never changed it; he didn't believe in using biometrics to unlock his phone."

"Of course he'd be totally fine with you snooping—he was probably too smart to hide anything juicy on it," Pan said with a grin.

"That's Malachi for you. Always five steps ahead of you. I haven't found anything interesting, not that I was really looking for that sort of thing. I just…wanted something of him nearby. I started looking through his fan mail. There's just a ton of e-mails—there was no way he was ever going to get through all those by himself. Now I can see why he was forever on his phone or laptop. I read them, sometimes I even reply—I tell them it's me, of course. It makes me feel so connected to so many people. It makes me realize how big the world really is. I kind of took it for granted. It makes me realize just how much he meant to so many others—I think it was selfish of us to keep his death secret from everyone. I know Quint isn't really to be commended, but I think it was still a good thing to do. All those celebrities that he effected, all those people that he inspired to pursue music careers of their own, all those people who'd fallen in love with him and his music. It's beautiful."

"You sound just like Auden," Pan commented.

"Do I?" Bra said with a grin. "How would you know? You've been hanging out with him?"

"Sometimes," Pan said unwilling to admit at this point that she'd been hanging out with him exclusively.

"I know that tone," Bra said teasingly. "Well, next time you see him. Tell him, I really appreciate the white rose—I liked how it shined even in the dark. I…think I understand what he was trying to tell me. From someone I don't know that well, that was really thoughtful. It's still in my room on the windowsill."

"I'll be sure to tell him, whenever I see him again."

"Uh-huh," Bra said clearly not fooled in regards to just how often she saw him.

"How are you doing? You look better than expected for someone permanently dodging calls."

"I'm doing as well as I can be. I haven't really been home in a while. I wanted to give Jensen all the space he wanted. I think this arrangement has been fine. We get to cool off from each other."

"Are you really okay staying in this house though? You could have just found a hotel or something."

Bra shook her head, "This is much better. Even better now that you're here."

"Don't try to suck up to me now," Pan said with a laugh. "Had I not come, you would have just continued being here alone."

"I haven't been in an especially social mood. I'm not really alone. Dad visits a lot even if we don't have much to say. I think I've spent most of my days blasting music from Malachi's playlists. You know Malachi spent a lot of time making those. It's not randomly generated—he actually placed songs he knew in deliberately and these are ridiculously long. It'd take over a month to listen to all of them straight through."

"Not surprising," Pan said. "You actually get him started on music of any kind, be prepared to get your ears talked off."

"That's when you cut him off and let him know that he's been on that subject for almost an hour. I thought it was cute. I was annoyed at the time, but still. I wish I could be that passionate about something in my life. But I've never found that thing that I clicked with."

"Everyone knows what your real passion is," Pan said looking at her now with a mischievous look.

Bra was mystified, "And what would that be?"

"Sex," Pan said with a laugh.

Bra started laughing as well. "I don't know if I agree. It's been a very long time since that happened. Even when he was alive, when things happened, he just wasn't into it near the end. It's no wonder, right? I wouldn't be either if I was in his shoes."

"You must have some sort of fever. Who are you and what have you done with the real Bra?"

"She's still here, but she's had far too much time to think about things."

Bra moved over to the side of the bed so that she could sit next to her. Perhaps she sat a bit closer than usual, but Pan chalked it up to her being by herself for so long—she didn't mind it.

"So you've just been in here jamming to music and self-reflecting?"

Bra nodded. "That's basically it. Nothing special. I haven't touched the kitchen and hardly anywhere else in here—besides the bathroom, of course. I just order out all the time and I like to stay in this room."

"Again—what have you done with the real Bra? You'd go stir-crazy sitting in one place for too long."

"It's different now," Bra said simply.

"I can see that."

"People do change."

Pan realized that Bra had moved a little closer to her. Was she leaning towards her now? Pan had turned her head to look at her and she was presented with bright blue eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of playfulness. Then, the meager distance between them disappeared as if it hadn't been there at all and Pan felt lips upon hers, soft and inviting. Pan did not pull away, momentarily in shock. Her thoughts became too incoherent to sort through. She found her own lips pressing against hers. What were they doing?

She didn't want it to end as she began running on autopilot, responding exclusively to her ardor. How long had it been since she'd felt anything remotely like this? Her fervor surprised even herself. She was taken aback, however, when she felt Bra's tongue in her mouth. Pan started to pull back, but Bra pressed forward.

"Not to your liking?" Bra asked, pausing for a moment and looking at her.

Pan looked at her mutely and shook her head no. Then they were going at it again. She couldn't find it in herself to protest. Something was stopping her from doing that. Her eyes were closed and she was enjoying herself. A slender hand slipped under her shirt and she felt soft fingers lightly running across her bra. Pan was finally able to regain some of her senses as this new sensation snapped her out of the trance.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Pan asked looking at Bra fully now with eyebrows furrowed.

Her hand remained there gently massaging the silk material of her bra. She grinned at her. "I don't know really…I just felt like doing it and you haven't stopped me yet. Are you asking me to stop?"

Pan couldn't decipher her own thoughts once again, but this time her mind had become too jumbled. Another hand joined the other, playing with the silk material now.

"Yours was always bigger than mine. It's a shame you keep them hidden under ugly shirts," Bra said.

"Because showing them off was never a priority of mine." Pan could see that Bra's eyes were on her breasts clearly interested in them.

Her hands were teasing and Pan wanted those hands on her bare skin. She wanted someone other than herself to feel them in their entirety. That thought had taken root and she was hard pressed to ignore it. She reached behind herself and unhooked the bra. The straps hung looser now. Those baby soft hands wasted no time cupping them into her palm. Bra giggled at this and Pan grinned at her antics.

"Is it everything you hoped?" Pan asked.

"Somehow when it someone else's, it's far more satisfying. I've always liked yours—so round and plump and so very neglected. If they were mine, I don't know if I could ever stop touching myself."

"Maybe it's a good thing that they're not."

"Do you like how that feels?" Bra asked giving her breast a nice squeeze.

"It's…nice," Pan said truthfully.

Bra leaned in again and Pan responded in kind, realizing that she was already missing her lips, warm and succulent. Her fervor increased and so did Bra's. They were so close now that they're breasts were pressing into each other. Bra's arms were around her, but Pan hadn't the presence of mind to do the same—they simply idled on Bra's lap. They parted for a moment to catch their breaths. Pan had no idea how long they'd spent doing that. Bra's index finger ran slowly down Pan's lips as she wore a mischievous grin. Why did that make the heat flush to her cheeks? Pan's lips parted and Bra slipped in her wandering finger. Gently, she pushed it in and out and Pan's tongue wetted its surface. Her blue eyes grew soft as she did this. Pan had no idea what was happening—it was best not to think at all. There was a growing excitement she was beginning to feel. What was this? Bra slid her finger out, glistening now with saliva and then placed it into her mouth as she smiled broadly.

"Mmmm," Bra moaned and her eyes closed as well.

Watching her do this made her feel anxious. Knots and butterflies formed in her stomach. She'd never seen her like this before and she looked beautiful as always. She was so carefree and spirited and ever the center of attention. Pan couldn't take her eyes off her, admiring all of her physical qualities. What would this stunning woman want to do with her?

She was pulling at her pants now and her eyes looked at Pan questioningly. In most situations, Pan would be horrified, but she knew this woman—she'd known her for her entire life. What terrible thing could she do to her? She knew she was in no danger of being penetrated. There was nothing to worry about at all. Pan was sliding down her pants, but the anxiousness hadn't disappeared. It was an odd, queasy sensation in her stomach mixed with excitement and curiosity.

"Panties," Bra said as she tugged at this as well.

At this, Pan hesitated a little.

"Do you want me to stop?" Bra asked sensing her unease.

Pan shook her head no watching her steadily. She pulled down the final barrier to her sacred grounds.

"Beautiful," Bra said with an encouraging smile. Her fingers felt for her opening now. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"I'll let you know if I do," Pan said surprising herself with her confidence.

Bra took away her hand and stood up before approaching her. She placed her hands on the edge of the bed between Pan's opened legs and leaned forward—Bra wanted her to move back further on the bed and Pan did so. Then Bra joined her as well and she began positioning her. Pan's forearms were on the pillows now with her knees holding her up beneath her, and buttocks pointed outward horizontally behind her. Bra's hands felt the roundness of her romp before smacking it once and then twice.

"How about using some force next time, princess," Pan teased the other.

"My poor fragile hands," Bra said back in mocking tones, "But I've always wanted to do that."

Before Pan could reply, she gasped at the first hint of wetness upon the lips of her vagina. The knot in her stomach loosened and a warmness began to spread. At first the tongue was tentative and explorative. Pan clenched the pillow a little harder each time a new part of her was touched especially as it passed over her clitoris. On second inspection, it stayed there longer twisting and turning. Pan couldn't help the sounds coming forth from her own mouth, gasping and moaning as if in pain. There was a tear in the pillow she was holding and that tear grew worse and worse as Bra continued relentlessly. Bra began humming and the vibrations only stimulated her further at which point Pan cried out in frustration. Something was coming, this feeling that she couldn't quite decide was good or bad. There was a strange pressure that was beginning to drive her crazy. Would there ever be some sort of release? How long had they been going at this?

Her tongue paused for a bit. "You're a hard woman to please," she said breathlessly.

"Keep going," Pan ordered.

The soft wet give of her tongue returned to her now throbbing region and Bra began on her again this time more vigorously than before. Yet as she did this, Pan did not feel the same response. It was beginning to feel annoying and tedious, that pressure beginning to fade.

"Alright—I've had enough," Pan said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" Bra asked stopping again.

"Very."

Bra pulled back and Pan was able to finally relax and sit up normally. She looked over at Bra who wore a grin as she shook her head.

"I bet I could have done it, if you'd let me keep going," Bra said teasingly.

"Doubt it. No one's ever managed to do it."

"That sounds like a challenge."

Pan sighed. "It's impossible. I don't know if I even care."

"Such an ace thing to say. Even now in the midst of all this. You seem so unimpressed."

"This isn't so bad," Pan said with a grin, "Now when are you gonna' take your clothes off? You have me butt naked and you haven't even taken off a shirt."

"Let's change that shall we?" Bra said as she took off her shirt. She crawled a little closer to her after she was finished discarding every piece of clothing.

Pan found herself smiling at her as she fully took in her petite form and her small, perky breasts. "Cute."

"I'm glad you think so. We can't all be etched out in muscle."

She was falling in love with her curves as her eyes passed over her again, but she'd always been drawn to the look of things. "How about I return the favor?" Pan asked after a moment.

"You're gonna' do the same thing with me?" Bra asked with a tilted head.

"No—that would be disgusting and unpleasant."

Bra made a face at this.

"But my fingers are quite adept," Pan said as she slowly inserted first her index, then middle, and finally ring finger into her mouth wetting it thoroughly. "I've done it to myself so much, I'm practically an expert. And I bet you'll be more responsive."

"Well, we'll see."

Bra sat down with her legs spread part apart and folded beneath her so that she was elevated enough for Pan to reach her area. Pan moved closer to her and began on her without further ado. She felt for her hole and traced out the shape of it. Then the massage began energetically sliding back forth upon the lips and tickling her clitoris. Pan could tell immediately that Bra was enjoying it and she was far more vocal about crying out in encouragement. Bra leaned upon her shoulders, her body rigid with excitement as Pan increased her pace. She began her insertion with two fingers and then with a third when she realized how responsive she was. Her body was shuddering against her.

"You like that?" Pan asked as she continued to pump her fingers.

"Faster," Bra demanded between pants.

This was still within her skill and with ease she increased her pace. Within moments as her cries became more desperate, hot liquid covered her fingers.

"That was easy," Pan said smugly as she retracted her fingers. "Pretty roomy in there."

Bra slumped against her now. "Yeah, well," she began as her quickened breathing slowed, "You try having two kids and see how your pussy fares after that."

"Sure it's not from all that dick action you prided yourself on getting?"

"Very funny."

"I still don't get the allure. You orgasm and all this weird fluid comes out. Then it's over." Pan was wiping her fingers on the bed.

Bra pulled back from her and sat up on her own. She placed her hand on the one Pan was wiping on the bed and brought it to her lips. "You're forgetting that it feels damn good." Pan watched as Bra wiped off the remnants of the fluid with her mouth as she carefully brought it in and out of her mouth. "See, all clean."

Pan grinned at her. It wasn't long before they were kissing again. Bra's lips tasted saltier and Pan made a face at this. She wasn't particularly fond of the taste of Bra's orgasm, but it was short-lived. Bra pushed against her until Pan was lying back on the bed. Rhythmically, Bra began moving against her. She wasn't sure what they were doing at this point. Pan allowed her body to move in tandem. It was pleasant, relaxing even. They were winding down it seemed. Bra moved her face away and laid her head in the crook of her neck. She sighed exhaustively.

"Had enough?" Pan asked.

Pan felt her head bobbing against her in a nod. "You were a good sport," Bra replied. She rolled off of her and onto the bed. "Nothing like how it was with Malachi."

"Nothing is like how it was with him."

"That's true," Bra agreed. "Everything feels different."

"Doesn't everything just seem duller?"

"Extremely. I can hardly appreciate things, but at the same time I do because I know he would have wanted me to."

"He would want people to be happy, enjoying themselves."

"Maybe he might have joined us on this bed," Bra said through her grin.

They were quiet for a moment and then they both laughed at this.

"He would have loved that," Pan said good-naturedly.

"Such a lady's man—I doubt he would have declined the invitation if I was okay with it."

"He seemed to like surrounding himself with women."

"He preferred women over men and I kind of feel bad that I practically cut him off from all other women who had been in his life before. Those were his only friends. I was so insecure. Now it just seems so stupid."

"You weren't stupid, not entirely. He really sucks at picking good people to hang out with. And sometimes he's too naïve for his own good."

They were both gazing up at the ceiling stark naked lying on their back. Bra's hair mingled with Pan's. It felt comfortable. Talking about Malachi felt natural. He'd been on both of their minds.

"Did you love him?" Bra asked seemingly from out of the blue.

"I liked him." Pan wondered what she was really asking.

"Was that really all? You never fantasized about him? You never wanted to actually be with him?"

Pan was quiet as words became stuck in her throat.

"You two would have made a great couple," Bra continued. "Maybe he would have still been alive had I just let go after nearly killing him the first time."

"Bra, don't do that to yourself. Anyone can come up with a dozen and one ways to avoid things after the fact."

"Just tell me, Pan. I need to know. I won't be mad, I swear. It's been driving me crazy just thinking about it."

Pan's eyes focused even more on the ceiling debating with herself whether she should be so open with her feelings. What would it hurt? Malachi somehow returning seemed like a pipedream at best even if she didn't want to stop believing in it. "Yeah, I liked him a lot, maybe more than I should have."

"I knew it. He could talk so easily with you."

"We did spend a lot of time together at some point. If you had actually seen how pitiful he was after you broke up with him, I don't think you would have let it go on for that long. He was spiraling and I found him in a very dark place…I don't think he ever left that place. I don't think it was entirely because of the breakup. Even with me, he didn't reveal everything about himself. I knew there was something else, something that had been there already."

"Something to do with Quint," Bra said, "Dad told me an interesting story about him and Malachi."

"I know they had a rocky relationship," Pan said, "He pretty much hated the guy and respected him as well for all he did for him."

"He ever told you why that was?" Bra asked.

"He was overbearing and wanted to control every aspect of his life."

"Quint used to beat him and lock him up in rooms without feeding him as a way of disciplining him as a kid."

"He was physically abused?" Bra asked surprised.

"Yeah, but Quint said he did it because he had no choice. Malachi was more than obnoxious as a kid, borderline insane, animalistic. He used to kill animals and pee on stuff in the house."

"What? That doesn't sound like him at all."

"I know, but I think I believe him. Things went too far one day—he got really sick and then he was just different. He doesn't seem to remember any of it or at least, his mind filled in the blanks with something else."

"That sounds awful. Imagine how traumatic that would have been especially as a child when you don't understand everything. It makes things ten times scarier. That's if Quint isn't just spinning some crazy tale to make himself look better."

"I really don't think he was lying. Dad said he didn't sense that from him when he was telling the story. What I don't get is why Malachi was like that in the first place? What made him like that?"

Pan shook her head. "I have no idea. Well, maybe I'll take a shot in the dark. Malachi, he's a deeply emotional person, but at the same time, he wants everything to make sense to him so he's forever trying to come up with ways to explain the unknown and confusing. No one really taught him how to do that and I can imagine, in the beginning, it would have been difficult. He could have seen something that didn't make sense and have been moved so powerfully by it that it shaped how he interacted with the world at large. No one told him it was wrong. No one until Quint."

"That…actually sounds like it fits. It makes perfect sense. Yeah," Bra said slowly digesting her words. "But if that's true…"

"Yeah, I know, it sucks. A shitty beginning, a shitty fatherly figure. Instead of growing up normally, he was on display all the time and had to play the part. At what point could he be completely himself? Did he ever figure out just who he was in the first place? He must have been so used to living such a fragmented life that maybe he didn't know how to be any other way."

"It's hard to think about. You're right—he was definitely fragmented. I kept accusing him of hiding things from me, but maybe it wasn't intentional. Maybe there was nothing devious about it."

"It's too bad those things never got resolved."

"It's like I said, he would have been better with you."

"Bra—

"I'm serious. I'm being dead serious. Malachi needed someone who would listen to him just like you said and you do it so well. You see things about people that I could never notice on my own. I was jealous at the time, but now, I really like that you guys got along. I don't know, maybe he loved you to a certain degree."

"He was infatuated with you. I don't think he ever saw me like that."

"I found a playlist on his phone titled Son Pan and there were a lot of soulful love songs on it—the music I was playing when you stepped in. That's how I knew. I never looked at his music before because we had differing tastes. Sure, I knew a few of his favorites, but that was it. Clearly he recognized that you would be good for him, but never acted on it."

"Aren't you stretching a bit? Just because he had a playlist doesn't mean he really liked me like that."

"I would bet everything I own. Usually, if he knew that I didn't like him hanging out with someone, he'd stop. I never saw him hang out with Marron anymore, but you, he could never really stop calling you. You were the one person in which he staunchly refused to break contact with. We got into arguments about it. He would get up in the middle of the night, out of our bed and go to some quiet place in the house just to call you, like it was a necessity. When I caught him one day doing that and then told him no,—I was being such a bitch—he was pretty pissy for the rest of the next day. Then I just let it go, because I knew I could never win that battle. Don't you remember him still calling you even after we got back together?"

"Yeah, I do," Pan conceded, "I knew it was something you wouldn't like, but…I couldn't bring myself to just ignore him. I didn't think we were doing anything wrong. Well, surface-wise, but the things we talked about became so personal that I wondered if these weren't things he should be telling you. And every time I said 'you should talk to Bra about that' he would always say 'she wouldn't understand'. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but in the back of my mind, it did feel like a sort of an emotional betrayal. I mean, the only thing we weren't doing was being physical, but maybe you know this by now, but 90% of a relationship perhaps even more when it comes to asexuals is having a deep understanding of each other. That other stuff is mostly optional, some prefer it more than others. I tried to justify it by saying we were just friends, but I knew it was more than that even if neither of us would say it aloud."

"I'm not even upset about that. You're telling me that he was probably cheating on me emotionally and I don't really have a reaction," Bra said with a shrug, "Maybe it's because it was you. Maybe it's because I really had no idea how to completely understand him and I'm just glad he was able to have some level of that elsewhere. Maybe monogamy isn't all that it's cracked up to be and it's possible to love more than one person at the same time and it still be healthy."

"The old Bra would never say the things you're saying now. It's borderline controversial, you know. When you're with someone, you want that person to like you exclusively—let's face it, you like the attention and there's no way you would ever tolerate it being divided with someone else."

"That's the thing; I found myself changing being with Malachi. I found myself tolerating things I never would have in the past. I think it was a good thing. He was opening my narrow-minded views. I'd lived in my own world for so long. Then suddenly, I was stepping into his or, however much he felt comfortable with me stepping into. It was a slow-go and it was…painful. I made it painful because I could only see things my way. When you're in that moment, everything's so complicated. There were so many hurdles and obstacles in our relationship, but in the end, I just wanted to be happy and I wanted him to be happy as well. If he loved me the same way he always has and you were in the picture as well and that made him happy, in some alternate reality, I could see myself being fine with that. I would never have agreed to it back then when it counted, but now when it's all said and done, I don't see what the big fuss would have been. It's not like you two would have been boning each other."

"I never saw us truly together because we lacked that spark, the thing that makes you do silly, illogical things for that person," Pan said, "Like I said, he was infatuated with you, not me. If he was ever exclusively with me, I don't think I would have been enough. Maybe he knew that. Maybe that's why he never really pursued anything like that with me. The line between really close friends and asexual lovers becomes a bit blurry, even subjective. I also think that my family is very different from yours. I don't even live with them. I think part of the allure for him was feeling like he was part of a larger family—something he never had. I can't picture my father and Malachi being all that close. I don't know if they'd see eye to eye on things. He's very traditional and Malachi is anything but. I just don't see anything in their respective lives that they would connect on. Although, I do think my mom would have liked him, but, you know, most women like him so that's kind of a given."

Bra laughed at this. "He had no trouble talking with my grandma and everybody, including me, think that she's a little weird. One time, I found them watching movies together late at night and my grandma was doing most of the talking. I thought to myself 'of course'. If it's a woman, Malachi has no trouble getting them to open up."

"Even Marron and she's not the easiest person to like. She's so secretive all the time too," Pan said.

"You're telling me. But we all know that the easiest way to her heart is through money," Bra said with a laugh.

"True," Pan said with a chuckle.

Their laughs died down and for a moment they simply laid there in complete silence. It was a pleasant sort of silence. Pan began to ponder on the things stated before. Saying it out loud, her analysis of Malachi seemed accurate. What really stood out to her aside from the thing about Quint was that Bra was so open now. The things they'd done together not too long ago that she had instigated was something Pan would never think she'd consider. It had been fun and interesting. She liked it even. She felt closer to Bra than she had been in a long time. Did friends do these things? Could she still consider them friends? It was too complicated to put a label on.

"So you've been hanging out with Auden," Bra said breaking the silence.

"A little."

"Don't be coy."

"We talk on the phone sometimes," Pan admitted. Why was she blushing now? It was giving her away.

"Pan, let's not do secrets here. I've had enough of that for one lifetime. With Malachi I've just accepted it—it was a part of who he was—but it's not a part of who _you_ are. So just tell me. I don't judge people anymore."

It was easy to believe that, Pan found. Something was different about Bra and the knot in the back of her throat eased away. "It's been shitty for a while. You know that better than anyone—

"Maybe it's the same. We both lost someone we loved deeply."

Pan didn't want to equate her pain with Bra's. It wasn't as if they'd had kids together, but she didn't argue with her. "Perhaps. I felt really alone and my parents didn't really understand. I mean, they were sympathetic, but they didn't _really_ understand. They just hadn't known Malachi that well other than the fact that they knew I was a huge fan of his. I live by myself and it was just difficult to keep doing life. Then Auden called me. I'd told him to do that ages ago, but he waits until now to do it. I didn't hate him for it, I was desperate for some sort of connection with someone and I had a crush on him, a silly crush that I haven't told anyone about."

"Physically, he's your type," Bra said, "Everybody knows that you like the blond hair, blue eye type. Usually, though, their personalities turn you off quickly. And Auden, well he seems really mature."

"Very mature. I mean, out of my league kind of mature. And he's so smart. I think he's some kind of genius. Sometimes I wonder how he even sees me as his equal. Then there's the age gap."

"And the fact that he dated my mother once upon a time."

"He what?!" Pan asked.

Bra laughed at this. "Once upon a time. Mom told me a very interesting story about him. It's personal so I don't think I should repeat it."

"He never told me about your mom."

"Maybe he didn't think it was important. I mean, when I say long ago, I mean far into the past. It seemed pretty short-lived as well. I hate to say it, but my mom probably got around, if you know what I mean."

"Well, I wouldn't know. Your mom seems really nice."

"To people she likes, sure." Bra switched gears. "From what I could see at work, Auden seems pretty closed off. Is he like that with you?" she asked.

"Yeah, he is, but things are slowly changing the more I hang out with him. His mom passed away when he was in college and she cooked soul food. I think he's biracial."

"He is," Bra said, "And so are we in the most literal sense."

Pan laughed at this. "That's right, we are. As far as I know, he's completely human. He never talks about his dad so I can assume he wasn't part of his life at all."

"Good assumption," Bra said with a nod.

"He's asexual and I think aromantic. I'm not sure. I haven't actually asked him to tell me specifically what he is, but I know what he does and doesn't like. He doesn't like to be touched and he doesn't like touching other people unless it's absolutely necessary so no kissing or cuddling or anything of that nature. Sometimes I wonder if I'm alright with that. Sometimes I wonder why I keep continuing things with him if I can never do those things with him comfortably. I wonder why I still like him as much as I do and why I think he's so perfect."

"Because touch isn't that important to you either. The thing that you crave is an emotional connection and I think you have that with him," Bra said.

"You think so? I mean, he's so different from me. He's not all that adventurous. He likes computers and numbers and I like animals."

"Well, I don't know him that well, but there must be something about him that resonates with you or else you wouldn't still be talking to him. I've never known you to stay with someone you just didn't like. Maybe…he wants to be adventurous. Maybe you want to be more knowledgeable. Maybe he appreciates animals and maybe you appreciate technology."

"When you said that, it made perfect sense to me. You could be right. He made me a phone from scratch and I really love it. I've been liking it more and more each day."

"See? And with him being such a closed off person, it's a good thing that he's opening up to you. If anyone could do that, it's you. You're good at it. He probably needs that. Just like,"—Pan looked down when she felt Bra's hand intertwine with hers—"I need you."

Pan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock. What was she saying? "I…don't know about this."

"Relax, no one's asking you to choose. No one's saying that anyone's in some strict relationship. Everything's a bit up in the air. All I know is that I like that you're with someone who makes you happy and that I still want to hang out with you. I desperately need to hang out with someone who isn't myself."

"But let's say I _was_ in a relationship with Auden. I mean, look what we just did, isn't that?—aren't I cheating on him? I should probably tell him about this."

Bra sat up, taking her hand away from hers and leaning back on her arms. "You can tell him whatever you feel you should tell him. I don't care what you do. Just let things go as they will, but I do want to hang out with you more, if that's alright. You being here today, made me realize that I've really been isolated for too long."

She was still so relaxed, not at all perturbed with the implications. Pan reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, Bra, let's just do it. I want to hang out again too, like we used to when we were kids. We were so inseparable then."

"I would like that, Pan, I would really like that."


	4. Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pan spends time with Bra for the day.

Aster climbed three flights of stairs to reach the apartment she shared with her father. Upon attempting to unlock the door, she realized that it was already unlocked. That was highly suspect since her father always made sure to lock it and he rarely strayed from routine. In fact, she began to panic when her mind conjured up all the horrible things that might have happened. She quickly ran in calling out his name until she got to his room and saw that he appeared fine. His hair was different and though this was surprising enough, her eyes were drawn embarrassingly to his noticeable erection as he'd not bothered to climb under the comforters this time. She'd seen it before and knew that it didn't necessarily mean anything significant, but it was embarrassing all the same. She often found herself in a situation in which she was waking him and at least half of those times, she'd find her father fully extended. Today was just one of those days.

Something was going on and she didn't like things out of the ordinary not when it came to him. She had to make sure he was alright. He had a fragile constitution. She'd been with him long enough to know that almost anything could set him off in a bad way and that he may not recover all that well from it. They'd made so much progress lately. He was far more independent than he'd ever been and she didn't want him to backpedal after all that hard work.

The clock read that it was nearly 9 in the morning. Why was he still asleep at this hour?—he was overdue for his medication and he had to take those precisely at 8. Determinedly, she walked over and shook him to wakefulness. He seemed particularly difficult to rouse that morning.

"Dad, come on, you gotta' take your pills," Aster said authoritatively as she shook him vigorously now.

He groaned wearily at this. Aster breathed a sigh of relief now that he was actually responding. His eyes were still half-closed. "Mmm, what time is it?" he asked in a heavy voice. He looked about for the clock even though she was sure the position of the digital clock in the room hadn't changed in ages.

"Almost 9 o'clock—you're late," Aster said with some urgency. After all it was something quite important to his continued lucidity. "Did you have a late night?"

He sighed heavily as his eyes finally found the clock. He'd moved only a little and his body still laid sprawled upon messy comforters, "Very late night," he confirmed, "Haven't done that in a while." This concerned her as well.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but let's try to stay on track, okay? I'll get the pills and water."

"Mhm," his voice rumbled as his eyes closed again. He hadn't even so much as sat up. He appeared quite exhausted.

Before her eyes, he was falling asleep again with no sense of urgency much to her frustration. Were it not for the medication, she would have left him in peace as he appeared incredibly relaxed. It must have been a good night for him—no nightmares, no sleeplessness from anxiety.

She went to the bathroom to get his pills, but just as she did, she realized that he hadn't eaten anything yet. Taking those heavy pills on an empty stomach never turned out well for him. He'd be feeling bad for the rest of the day. She quickly made something in the kitchen—bacon and eggs—and came back to his room with a hot plate and a glass of water. He had not moved in the slightest and it was well past 9 by now. Aster had to go through all the trouble of rousing him again, but this time she could bribe him with food. She placed the food on the bed and the water on the nightstand in front of the digital clock.

"Hey, Dad, I got some food for you and your pills."

He barely responded to her with a slight movement of his head.

"It's important," Aster reiterated.

"Yeah, I know," he murmured, though he had yet to open his eyes. He seemed determined to ignore her.

"Very important," she said forcefully. A moment later, he seemed to respond and Aster stepped back as he finally began sitting up.

He kept one of his hands on his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his fingers and letting it run down the rest of his face. He looked at her fully only after he moved over to the side of the bed. There was still bleariness in his eyes as they lingered on her. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Sometimes you look just like her…" he said with an odd cadence to his voice.

She decided it was better that she made herself scarce for a bit at least until after he'd taken everything. He was getting a bit loopy. She knew the 'her' he was referring to. Usually, it was a compliment to be compared to one's mother, but in her case, it made her feel awful. She knew what her mother had done and she hated her for it.

"Dad, I put everything on the bed beside you. I'll, uh, I'll be back in a little while."

When he was momentarily distracted from her, seeking out the food, she slipped out of the room, closed the door, and then waited patiently on the ground beside his bedroom. She looked up when the door opened again after a while. He wore a confused expression likely because she was sitting there in the hallway. She smiled and said, "Good Morning" to him as friendly as possible, testing the waters. He paused briefly and responded in fashion with a monotone she had come to expect from his voice. He was normalized, he was calm, he was safe to be around—there were no odd notes to his voice, no hidden paranoia, no singular need to disconnect from everything and everybody. He acknowledged her without difficulty and he had no issue with her presence. This was who she preferred. Beneath, she knew lied a broken and unreachable man who would be content to exist in complete sensory deprivation if he was to exist at all. The medication which maintained his mental state was his lifeline and she constantly reminded him to take them. Though it was important, for the most part, his enthusiasm towards them were lackluster at best. But then, he was lackluster in most things. She couldn't tell whether he genuinely hated to take the medication or not.

She was left to her own devices for a short while as he continued on to the bathroom down the hall. As he did this, she stepped back into the room to check if he actually ate everything. She found everything empty—the plate, the glass, and the slot for the pills for today on the medication carrier. She took these things and brought it to the kitchen. Then she meticulously went about cleaning up the kitchen and putting the dishes away. By the time she came to the room, her father was fully dressed with his eyeglasses already on.

She paused there in the doorway taking a closer look at his hair, more taken aback by how different he looked. She was starting to wonder if he was some imposter. Her mind couldn't quite put all the pieces together. Did he manage to cut his own hair?

"Alright, this is killing me, Dad. What happened to your hair, seriously?"

He regarded her with a side-glance before returning his gaze back to his phone. "I had someone cut it for me."

"You say that like it's a casual thing. You realize you've never ever cut your hair before—at least since I've known you. You keep that haircutting kit around, but it's just for show. Now this? Did somebody knock you out and then steal your hair or something?"

"You have quite the imagination. I did have someone do it, as I said, someone who I know well enough for it not to be an impossible task."

Aster sighed exasperatedly, "Don't tell me it's Pan again. You're still talking to her?"

"Yes, it was her. Not exactly a difficult conclusion to come to," he remarked.

Aster frowned at this. "You know how I feel about her. It's already getting out of hand—you had her cut your hair? What's next? What other compromises are you going to have to squirm through?"

"Compromising isn't such a bad thing. In fact, I think it's necessary and commonplace."

"That doesn't apply to you," Aster said as she now stepped into the room. "You know what compromise means? Changes. You have to do something outside of your comfort zone and that isn't a good thing for you." She sat down on the opposite side of the bed her father was sitting.

"So far, I've been enjoying this new haircut and I'm fine. Nothing terrible happened."

"For now, but it always goes bad. Age issue aside, she won't really be able to understand you. Maybe she likes you because you're different. I think that's always been the case, hasn't it? They see that you're 'different' from everyone else. They're drawn in by the mystery—you don't say much about yourself and you keep to yourself. Then they find out who you really are, and they abandon you. I don't know why you bother."

"I understand what you're saying, but I don't think I could go on living like this without having some sort of…closeness with another. And though I might enjoy my solitude more than others, even I can't escape feeling lonely sometimes. It comes and goes, but when it's there, it's hard to ignore."

"How about me?" Aster said quietly, "Why can't I do? We've known each other for a long time and I feel like we've talked about everything. What more do you need?"

"You mean a great deal to me, Aster. I cherish every moment we spend together. Don't ever think otherwise. But that isn't enough. Not always."

Aster shook her head at this and glanced back at him. "What even is your definition of a relationship with other people? You're pretty much just close friends with them. That's all you want, it seems like. No touching, no kissing, no sex—just having someone to talk to. And I can do all those things. I know I've been out of the house more lately, but I can cut back on that, you know. Hang out with you more."

"Aster, what are you suggesting?"

"You don't need anyone else because I'm friends with you and I won't ever abandon you. I'm really the only one who can understand you. Whatever you think you have with Pan, you can have with me. I'll be the closest friend you can ever ask for."

He sighed wearily at this much to her displeasure. Had she said something wrong? It took him a long moment to even respond. "You're my daughter who I care about deeply, but what you've proposed simply cannot be. I could never be in the same sort of relationship I might have with Pan, with you. Those lines would never cross, not in my mind. To even suggest such a thing…"

He left his thoughts unfinished and her eyebrows furrowed at this. He made it sound like it was out of the question, but she knew her father well and she knew what his ideal relationship would look like. No one in their right mind would ever agree to a lifetime commitment living within those strange, limiting parameters. It was more of a mental affair and most others required far more than that in a real relationship. Knowing these things, she knew that he was better off just keeping to himself and being content with just a friendship with somebody if he wanted something constant like that.

"What's wrong? Do I look too much like her?"

"…That isn't it. I appreciate your concern, but perhaps your advice is a bit misguided."

"How long, Dad? How long do you think it'll take this time before the initial curiosity is over? She'll get to know you a little better, find out who you are, and then realize that she's in over her head and that she could never be in a relationship in which she can't touch you like normal people do. The novelty always wears off. And then it's never good what happens to you after that."

"We are simply friends. That's all. Two adults getting to know one another a little more each day."

"You text her every day?"

"She doesn't seem to mind."

"You probably think about her a lot too. You probably admire her already. You've probably mulled around every single detail about her over and over in your head. That's just how you are. You get attached way too quickly. Don't try to tell me otherwise. Friends is code for a deep relationship for you and I bet she doesn't feel the same way. I bet she's second guessing herself right now. What would you do if she called you right now to end things?"

"We would simply go our separate ways."

"No, she would leave you behind and then we're right back where we're started. That's a trigger, you know. Being in a relationship is a trigger because it always ends in failure."

"I can't avoid something simply because it might end in failure. It's something that I've done for a long time, but I've never agreed with it. I can't truthfully say how I would react should she suddenly decide to break ties with me, but it seems unlikely that it would happen."

"For now," Aster said haughtily. "Are you really that naïve to think nothing bad is going to happen?"

"That is always a possibility in all things. In this instance, I'm willing to take a chance."

"Of course you are," Aster said with disdain, "You just can't help yourself. The moment you called her back, you already made your decision. I told you not to and yet you still did. What? In spite of me? You didn't think your situation wasn't precarious enough? You just needed a little more danger in your life?"

"Perhaps you should have a little more faith in me. It would be helpful if you were more supportive."

"I won't support something I know won't end well. Listen, I know it sounds harsh," she said as she leaned back onto her arms on the bed, "but this thing you have with Pan, it's not worth the risk. You cannot handle being in a relationship with her or anybody that isn't me who really understands you. As soon as you can, you should end things with her."

"Things aren't as serious as you seem to think—"

"But it will be if you keep this up even if it isn't already and I don't buy that for a second. You're letting her cut your hair. I can't imagine how much you had to endure for that. You've gone on for this long without a haircut and now you suddenly feel like it's top priority? I think you were just telling yourself that to justify how grossly you had to compromise to make her feel better. You knew that she'd like that and in that moment, her happiness mattered more than yours and that's a dangerous situation to be in. That can't happen again."

"You paint a very one-sided picture. She's had to compromise as well and she's only ever been respectful of my boundaries. Who better than myself should decide if something has gone too far or not? It was not such a terrible strain last night that I couldn't endure it. I know you're worried about me, but I do enough of that on my own."

"Do you? From what I can tell, it gets worse from here and you're inviting it. It will escalate. She'll want more and more. She'll think she's making 'progress' with you, but we all know that that's superficial at best. She'll think: "Oh, one day I might be able to kiss him" or "One day we can sleep in the same bed all it takes is some time." You know that's a lie. You know those things aren't even on the table and I bet you haven't told her those things."

"We're just friends."

"I bet she was all too eager to run her hands through your hair for any off the wall reason. If she really knew or understood you, she would not have agreed to it at all. But she didn't pass it up. If that was a test, she failed miserably."

"She did a good job. There was no way she could have known how serious I was about it versus being uncomfortable with that sort of thing. She did what she thought was best. She made an honest effort and it wasn't out of malice or opportunity."

"You don't know that for certain. It might have been a bit of both—she was being opportunistic and concerned about actually doing your hair." Aster turned and looked at him again. Then she stood up and walked around the bed to get a better look at him. "Although, it's starting to grow on me."

"It took me far less time to wash my hair and it's already dry and styled. For all that convenience, I think it was worth the effort to get it in the first place."

Aster rolled her eyes at this. "Sure, Dad. Don't forget what I said though. It only escalates."

His eyes became thoughtful and then he closed them as if in reflection. "You've never been wrong about this sort of thing."

"Exactly," she said, glad that he was beginning to see things her way. Pan was a headache he didn't need. "And you've been doing so well lately except for today. Other than that though…You've actually been keeping up with your medication. No panic attacks. Work hasn't been too stressful. You've been so independent. I haven't had to check in on you so regularly. Why don't you just do yourself a favor and end things before it gets too far and all this progress you've made goes straight down the toilet."

"It isn't quite as simple as that. I've spent so much time with her that it's become part of my routine and something that I look forward to. Taking that away so abruptly, well, it would be difficult."

"Sure, ending friendships are always that way, but it won't be as bad as it could be. A brief discomfort versus a complete meltdown. I think you know what the obvious choice is. Can you really be this shortsighted to make a decision based on how you feel right now?"

"I understand what you're saying and I can't deny that it makes perfect sense and that you've given me a good solution, but I simply cannot go through with it."

"I swear, you're worse than a child. You just do things just because it makes you feel good, to hell with the consequences. To hell with me who's always the one who has to pick up the pieces."

"I'll try not to put you in that position again. Should something like that happen, you shouldn't take it upon yourself to fix things. That's what hospitals are for."

"So they can take you away? So we can just be separated and you stay locked up in some facility? I won't let that happen. I won't be responsible for that."

"You're an adult now, Aster, and you have been for a long time. It wouldn't be the end of the world. When you were a child, I took no chances whatsoever and made sure I was always there for you. But that time has long passed even if you want to pretend it hasn't. It can't always be like this. This stagnation that we seem to be in, it shouldn't continue indefinitely, it isn't healthy. That's why I'm taking a chance like this. I hold out hope that it won't end the way you say and even if it does, I don't think it would have been a wasted experience. What's the point of living if I've trapped myself in a box? Always being afraid of what might happen is almost as stressful as having the worst actually happen. Anyone could come up with dozens of ways of how it could all go wrong, but then experience nothing of substance for the entirety of their life. I don't plan on not being able to handle things as they come. I hope that I'm strong enough to adjust and change, but I won't ever know for sure unless I try."

"I've heard this talk before," Aster said with crossed arms. "It always ends the same. It's cyclical at this point. You should just be content with how things are instead of doing this song and dance over and over again. I've said this a few times before, but I'll say it again: You're not capable of adjusting to things that are too far out your comfort zone. You're not like other people and you never will be and you don't have to be. Who says you need to make friends in order to be happy? Who says a life full of routine and sameness isn't a life worth living? Who says pain is the only indicator that you're doing things the right way?"

Her father sighed at this. "I don't know." His voice had gotten smaller and more unsure.

"I'm telling you right now and all you have to do is listen."

She hated seeing her father so uncertain and she knew she wasn't helping matters in that regard. She wasn't simply telling him to go for it. She couldn't do it. This was something that he desperately needed to hear even if it sounded harsh. It was for his own good. The alternative was far worse, and she couldn't really help him if it came to that.

"I'll…be late for my appointment if I stay here much longer," he said after a very long pause. He'd been thinking. She wasn't sure if he'd come to any good conclusions.

"Well," she said stepping away from him, "I hope your session goes well. Maybe you should discuss this with her. She might wound up saying the same thing."

He was already standing up. "Probably not."

"That's because she's just some stuffy therapist and I'm the only one who really cares about you."

He moved towards the entrance of the room past her. "I'll see you when I see you then," he said with a voice heavy in weariness.

Aster frowned at this. "I'll be here tonight."

"You'll be at the Brief's residence today, I'm sure. Have fun. If you decide to stay the night there, it wouldn't bother me in the least. The important thing is that you're doing what you like to do. There's no set schedule you have to adhere to."

"But you'd like that, wouldn't you? You like set routines."

"I like that you're going out somewhere and don't feel the need to stay here all the time. Text me if you need me, other than that I'm not overly concerned what you do."

Aster watched him leave with a frown that hadn't left her face. He was being so nonchalant these days. He used to demand that she tell him exactly what she's doing each day and she used to spend almost all her time with him when not at work. She wasn't altogether sure what this was or why he was being this way, but she didn't particularly like it. Yet his lack of intense concern for her whereabouts made her less concerned about it as well. She hated how easily she'd fallen into just doing things and going places she wanted without letting him know. She needed to keep a close eye on him, but he didn't seem to care either way. He never called her wanting her to be around like he used to. Before she knew it, she'd spend days without ever seeing or talking to him. What did this mean? Were they simply drifting apart? She couldn't leave her father alone—that would be dangerous now even more so since it seemed he was trying to use Pan to replace her, a completely unknown woman.

She didn't like any of it and she wanted it all to return to normal. Even so, her thoughts returned to Jensen as it often did, obsessively occupied with him. He would often steal away her attention from all other things even her father and it was something she didn't much have control over.

* * *

Music flowed through the room. Bra had turned on one of Malachi's more exciting playlists of club bangers from the past and soon she and Pan were dancing about the ample floorspace in the room. Neither one of them were all that good at dancing, but that didn't matter—enjoying themselves was more important. It emboldened them as they saw each other just as clumsy and not quite on rhythm. It helped that they knew the words to all the songs. Pan wasn't keeping up with the time so she couldn't tell just how long they were fooling around, but they did get through quite a bit of songs before settling down again. They'd thoroughly tired each other out.

They laid sprawled out on the soft carpeted floor, heaving as they tried to catch their breaths. Strangely enough, she felt worn out as if she'd just gone through an intense workout. It hadn't seemed so strenuous until she was able to feel the full extent. She'd worked muscles she hadn't known was there—or to be more accurate, muscles she normally didn't pay much attention to. She might have landed on her feet wrong a few times, but it was all in good fun and she felt the best while relaxing after doing something that physically stimulated her.

"Can you imagine doing an entire concert like this, but with way more precision and skill?" Bra asked.

"Harder than it looks," Pan replied between breaths.

"Then everyone's eyes are on you. You have to do it perfect or else people will tear you to shreds. I've seen celebrities decimated in the news for bad lip-syncing," Bra said.

"Yeah, but Malachi never lip-synced."

"So people like to claim, but he definitely did that. Not the entire time, but moments when it became too much of a strain to get the notes out while doing routines that were getting increasingly complex."

"Seriously? Am I getting the inside scoop?"

"If you do it well enough, no one really notices. I think everybody lip-syncs at some point, but we only notice when it's done badly."

"You know what probably helps though? The fact that it's hard to tell his recorded voice from his live voice. It sounds almost exactly the same."

"He didn't really embellish the sound of his voice in the studio. I was pretty surprised too. I thought to myself: no one sounds that perfect in real life. He's sang in front of me enough times to know that it does. It's a little uncanny. If you listen closely though, really closely, you can hear the difference. I think that's just because my hearing is far superior to most and I bet he can't even hear that."

"Lucky you, getting front seat live performances for free at a moment's notice," Pan said with a laugh.

"More like reluctant performances. I would shamefully badger him until I got what I wanted."

"Bra!" Pan said exasperatedly though still in good spirits. "You're ruthless."

"Oh, he could handle it. I never did that when he was actually tired just when he was being pissy. That was really the best way to get him out of that kind of mood."

"That's the thing that always makes him happy. When I was trying to cheer him up, I knew I had to involve music somehow," Pan said.

"I wasn't always badgering him though. There were times if he was in a good mood that I wouldn't have to do all that. Sometimes, he'd sing all through the house and he always sang to Machi because she absolutely loved it and often wouldn't go to sleep without it."

"Imagining him doing those things—it gives me a warm feeling."

Just then, Pan's phone beeped—she'd gotten a text message. After she pulled it out of her pocket, she knew it had been from Auden. It brought a smile to her face. That there was someone else out there thinking about her felt incredibly satisfying. All in the same moment, she felt utterly guilty and confused. She was here with Bra enjoying herself and they'd done things that two "friends" probably shouldn't. Yet she still felt at ease with her as if nothing had changed. But something had. Every minute she didn't say something to Auden even if it hadn't been that long since it happened, she felt guilty. She read the text message: _Hope you've been enjoying your time off from work. How are you doing?_

"Who's that?" Bra asked startling the other.

"Oh, nobody. Just somebody from work—you wouldn't know them," Pan said struggling to find the right words.

"It's Auden, isn't it?" Bra, as usual, was able to see right through her.

Pan sighed. She really didn't feel like trying to hide things. It never ended well anyways. Besides, she'd never actually done that to Bra before. "It's him. He just…wanted to know how I was doing."

"That's sweet. He's concerned about you. What are you going to tell him?"

"The truth."

"Over a text?"

"You're right, I should call him."

Pan heard her move. She looked up as she watched Bra crawl towards her until she was right over top of her—Pan didn't do anything to stop her. She found herself gazing up into her mesmerizing eyes.

"What exactly is the truth?" Bra asked curiously.

"I...don't know," Pan said uncertain.

Bra lowered herself a little until she was able to press her lips against hers and Pan responded instinctually. It felt nice. It felt like it was meant to happen. They continued for a while until Bra pulled herself away and then laid down beside her.

"You're not making this very easy," Pan said.

Bra giggled at this. "Maybe you'll figure it all out eventually. In the meantime—I'm super bored. Kinda tired of staying in this room all the time."

Pan sighed at this. Despite everything Bra had been through, despite locking herself away from the world for months, she appeared so carefree now and she didn't want to ruin her mood. "Well, there's the technology festival going on—

"Oh yeah, it's sponsored by Capsule Corp. I haven't been to that since I was a kid."

"I've never gone. Didn't want to go by myself and every time I brought it up when we were younger you and Marron never wanted to go."

"Aww, I'm sorry, I had no idea! That means we definitely have to go," Bra said with a grin.

"Crazy that your mom's company is big enough to have their own festival."

"Mom has enough money to buy the entire world," Bra laughed. "Old news, really."

"Yeah, it always made me feel a bit awkward to know someone with that kind of wealth."

Bra sat up then. "Alright then—let's go before we talk ourselves out of it."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Bra was practically pulling Pan along with excitement after they finally found a decent place to park a mile away. Pan had forgotten just how big the festival was. It stretched over several blocks and people from all over went to it. Of course, there was food and drink and her sharp senses could already smell the funnel cakes and fried food in the air. It was intoxicating.

She still hadn't texted Auden back, but buried her sentiments in the back of her mind for the time being.

"I have no idea the events they're having. Maybe we should've looked it up first," Pan said as she began to see booths and throngs of people passing, feeling a bit intimidated.

"Well, we're here! We can just explore—pretend it's an adventure. Or," she began with a sigh, "You can just look it up on your phone."

"Alright, I hear ya, loud and clear, Bra. Let's explore."

"Okay, first off, we have to eat something from every food stall."

"Even if they're selling the same thing?"

"Even if they're selling the same thing," she confirmed with a grin.

"Well, that's easy—I doubt there's even enough here to even pose a challenge."

"We'll see," she said chuckling. "You'll be surprised though. CC keeps making this thing bigger and better each year."

"When's the last time you went?" I asked.

"When I was really young and Mom dragged me out here. Then when I complained enough about it, they stopped forcing me to go. I thought it was just for kids and all that—Yeah, I was a brat back then. Now it just seems silly. I think it's a great way to spend the day. Can't you feel the good vibes in the air? Maybe I was too young to notice before."

"We get older and smarter as they say," Pan replied looking now at the upcoming food stall. It reminded her of the fact that she'd not eaten very much that day and it was nearing dinner time.

Bra insisted on paying once they went to make an order despite Pan's protests.

"Girl, you know it's nothing for me to pay. Just save your money. Seriously, Mom is so unbelievably wealthy that I feel bad for everyone else."

Pan snorted at this, "Thanks for the sympathy, but I'm not that broke down."

"It's not a shot at you at all, it's just a criticism about society in general. No one person is worth as much wealth as Mom has managed to accumulate, but she has it all the same. It's shitty to think about."

"Woh, woh, slow down, princess. I barely know who I'm talking to right now."

They were waiting now for the food to be made after Bra bogarted the stand when it came time to pay. Pan decided to simply let it be since Bra felt so strongly about it.

"Well, it's just, I know Mom and everyone has saved the world several times over from all these alien invaders, but have we really helped the people on this planet?"

"CC's technology advances have helped people, I'm sure, as far as convenience goes."

"Sure, so long as you can afford it. CC has pretty much monopolized on their inventions and gotten things patented so they can rack up the prices as high as they want with little to no real competition."

"It's always been that way," Pan said with a shrug.

" _Should_ it be that way?"

"I don't know."

"It really shouldn't be—that's the correct answer," Bra said crossing her arms. "But it's like you said, it's always been like that. The more power these sorts of corporations have, the harder it is for new businesses to even begin to be competitive." She sighed at this. "Just things I've been thinking about."

"About politics?"

"About making a better future for everyone, my kids, really. I think about how I was raised. I don't want them to grow up like that. I mean, just look at me: spoiled, completely clueless all the time, an idiot who doesn't contribute to society—

"Bra…"

"It's true. Don't try to soften it. What if the world is at peace? What do we do in the meantime? We should be making this world better, right? Isn't that what the Z-fighters do?"

Pan laughed at this. "I don't know what we do. I don't even know if I'm actually part of the group—I just kind of assume I am and insert myself into situations."

Just then, the man who had been cooking the food presented them two separate paper trays of hotdogs and fries. Pan was ready to inhale the food but restrained herself until they found a place to sit. She was finished in a matter of minutes as Bra daintily ate her fries.

Bra seemed amused at her antics. "Yeah, you're not going to have a problem with these stalls, huh?"

"Honestly, it's more of a challenge eating just one thing. But it's a big place. Hurry up and finish already," Pan replied with a grin.

In the distance, Pan could see two different Ferris Wheels, one bigger than the other. When she was a small child, she remembered feeling somewhat curious about the large contraption, but after one trip, she'd found it to be slow and constricting. Flying through the open air was far more exhilarating. Still, building something tangible that could take anyone up into the air was a staggering feat and it didn't require any sort of training to enjoy. She intuitively knew how fun that might be to a human who'd never done anything like that before. She imagined Bra had wrote it off immediately back then.

"Yeah, it goes 200 meters in the air—the biggest Ferris Wheel in the world," Bra said noticing where Pan was looking, "And it's portable thanks to CC technology. Even so, I could care less when I was younger. Daddy could always take me higher with far less hassle."

"I knew it."

She shook her head. "My brother liked it though, but he was more fascinated by the mechanisms behind it rather than the experience itself."

"Trunks—always the closet nerd."

"Not so closet anymore these days. And he's been training more. Well, actually, ever since the funeral."

"Any reason for that?" Pan asked.

Bra was finishing off her hotdog and took a moment to answer. "He says he doesn't want to be shown up by Malachi again once he returns."

Pan sighed at this. "The longer he's gone, the more foolhardy it sounds."

"Mom's working on it and I've never seen her not pull something off."

"Couldn't Dende help us? I mean, I know he doesn't know where New Namek is, but can't he just communicate with people up in Otherworld who know where it is?"

"He probably could, but he's not helping us. Mom told me that he refused. His position is that since the Dragon Balls are gone, no one should be revived, and no one should receive special treatment—it goes against the natural order. The entire debacle with Omega Shenron was because we misused the Dragon Balls and to ensure nothing like that happens again, he's taken a principled stance on that and nothing we do can change his mind—my dad's already talked to him plenty of times."

"Just talk? That's a lot of restraint for him."

"I said the same thing," Bra laughed, "But he always pretends he has no idea what I mean by that."

"My dad told me a great deal about him," Pan said. "I know he wouldn't lie about it, but the Vegeta I've known just doesn't seem like the one he's talking about."

"It's so weird, right? I know my dad can be a bit rough around the edges, but psychopathic murderer doesn't seem to fit."

"Well, just in case, I won't be the person pushing any of his buttons."

"Please, just tell him we're dating, and he won't ever lay a finger on you."

"Oh, are we dating?" Pan asked a little surprised.

"If someone forced me to put a label on it, sure." Bra said with a shrug. "Hope that doesn't scare you."

"It should…"

Bra almost rolled her eyes as she shook her head only a little annoyed. "Let's go, I've finished my food, and we still have a ton of things to see."

Pan dropped the topic as it was making her feel a bit uncomfortable. She wished things were more cut-and-dry between her and Auden. She wished she knew what she was doing with Bra and why she was entertaining it. Then she didn't feel like thinking about anymore. There was still the unanswered text from Auden…

A fire juggler caught their eyes just as a captivated audience began forming around him. He twirled fiery batons into the air casually around himself over and over again. He was a lean, muscular man and clearly a daredevil.

"This will look even better when it gets darker," Pan commented with mild interest.

"I bet you could do this with your ki."

"Sure, but it wouldn't be as cool as this since it's pretty difficult to hurt yourself with your own energy and if I did, it wouldn't be that bad."

"Yeah, that's true."

"It takes a lot more courage to do what he's doing. Despite the danger, he's still confident."

"And he probably had to train a lot for it."

Pan nodded at this.

They watched for a bit longer before moving on and browsed at the nearby shop selling sculptured flowers.

"You know, he's the kind of person Dad wouldn't mind training," Bra said as her hand traced the outlined of a bonsai tree. "Back at Tien's dojo, that's all he's been doing."

"Really?"

"The Earth needs more defenders and it's been that way for too long, so he says, and I think he's right."

"Maybe I should do a class," Pan said with a mischievous glint. A white marble rose had caught her eye; she examined it further. The price was ridiculous—it wouldn't be a festival if that wasn't the case.

"If you wanna pick a fight with him, all you have to do is ask," Bra chuckled as she stepped closer to Pan's location. "I doubt those classes would help you much, but me on the other hand…"

"I'm sure he'd be over the moon, if you do that and give you personal lessons."

"I don't know if I would survive that. I think I'd enjoy a class setting better," Bra said thoughtfully.

"If Malachi can do it…" Pan began.

"He's different—he's a glutton for punishment, I am not."

"I'm sure he'd readjust the difficulty based on your skill."

"Sure, sure, but, I don't know, I've always been scared of one-on-one training like that. It would take the pressure off me and plus it's be interesting to see how other humans are taking his training."

"You talk like you're actually going to do it and we all know you're not."

"A girl can dream though. It's the thought that counts?"

"Not sure that works there."

"Oh shut-up—let's get to this next food stall already, I can already smell the fried fish."

They'd barely looked through all the flowers before jolting off to something else that struck their fancy. Though the sights were entertaining, it very quickly became more about how many food stalls they could find and eat at. Bra was paying for everything and Pan was quickly drawn to seafood options as well as interesting drinks. Along the way, CC was showcasing their products ever few steps along with their bright, glossy advertisements. Pan noticed that they were really making an effort to improve their cell phones. While she was impressed with the progress they made, she thought immediately of Auden. His phone, though lacking in the bells and whistles, seemed far more advance. What if his brand entered the marketplace? Would it take off?

For now, she was enjoying a perfectly fried catfish with more fries along with a large cold cup of grape limeade. It was a nice snack between snacks.

"The first place selling mac and cheese, I'm getting two orders of it," Pan said polishing off her plate.

"I really want some grilled asparagus or grilled brussel sprouts," Bra said dreamily as she cut into her strawberry cheesecake.

"Those too," Pan agreed. "Bacon-wrapped brussel sprouts."

"Bacon-wrapped asparagus."

They both laughed at this.

"Isn't that way too sophisticated for a festival?" Pan asked thoughtfully.

"Not this one. We'll find every food imaginable here, Mom said so."

"Then we'll definitely find some scallops soon too, right?"

"Yep," Bra said with a smile. "I like how this has become a food tour."

"On that note, let's go, we have a ton more to get through."

In fact, they'd only seen about a fourth of the booths, exhibits, shops and attractions. The sun was almost fully set and it felt like only a few moments had passed. Surprisingly, no one recognized Bra. Everyone seemed far more focused on enjoying themselves. There was live music as well which Pan had heard in the distance long ago. They stopped for a while to listen to the local band that neither of them knew, but they did do an interesting rock version of an old Malachi hit. Pan couldn't decide if she liked it or not, but it was nice hearing it live. There was more than one live stage, but Pan didn't think they'd make it to the big one that was much further in.

"Ice cream," Bra shouted at once when she saw the vendor. It was the latest food item they were on the prowl for.

Though ice cream wasn't her favorite, Pan was amused by how jazzed Bra was at the mere sight of it. Pan got her very safe vanilla ice cream cone and Bra got her rocky road cone.

"Want to try some of mine and live a little?" Bra teased as they walked a little ways from the vendor where there was some space for them to breath from all the people lollygagging.

"Only if you try mine," Pan said though it was hardly a threat considering the flavor.

Bra stepped a little closer. "Fine, just try mine though, you won't be disappointed."

She brought the chocolate ice cream to Pan's lips politely turning it towards the part that she hadn't eaten. The burst of sweetness that erupted in Pan's mouth was startling along with the bits of savory nuts. Bra pulled it away before Pan could take another bite.

"See?" Bra said knowing that Pan clearly liked it.

"It has it's moments."

Bra snorted at this. "You can always go back and get it if you want it. I know I've converted you."

"Not a chance. You still haven't tried the vanilla."

"I've tried vanilla," Bra said rolling her eyes, but soon she's taking a hefty chunk of the vanilla ice cream on the cone, trying to hold back her giggles.

"Hey!"

Bra finished what was in her mouth quickly with a triumphant grin, but before Pan knew it, Bra had leaned forth and enveloped her lips with lingering vanilla sweetness. Suddenly, Pan became more interested in tasting her instead. It was so spur of the moment, that Pan could hardly stop herself from smiling which drew one from Bra as well. Bra licked her ice cream a couple times before returning to her lips so that they could further exchange tastes.

"Pan?!" came a familiar voice a few yards away.

A jolt of fear went through Pan as she quickly pulled away from her. Bra was equally surprised. When Pan looked over, she confirmed that it was her mom. Now all she needed was for her dad to come strolling in.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Pan asked.

"What am I doing here? It's a free public area," she argued back, still with surprise in her tone.

"Is Dad with you?"

"Not this time, thank God."

Bra's eyebrows furrowed at this. "Nice to meet you too. Hope you're enjoying yourself at the festival."

Videl gave her a sympathetic look. "It's always nice. CC always outdoes itself. Honey, I need to talk to my daughter alone—would you mind?"

"Actually, I _would_ mind," Bra said with crossed arms.

Pan noticed the growing tension and knew she had to do something quick, though it warmed her seeing how defensive Bra had become by what seemed like her mom disapproving. How attached to her did she feel already? Better yet, how close did Pan already feel towards Bra?

Pan turned to Bra drawing her attention. "It's alright," Pan said in quiet tones, "It's probably some misunderstanding. And it's my mom so I really don't have a choice. Just let me talk to her. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Don't take long," Bra said haughtily.

Pan gave her a thumbs up, though it did little to alleviate Bra's concern when she went forward with her mom. Pan had thought they'd walk a few more paces away, but her mom apparently wanted complete secrecy as they disappeared into the crowd and turned a corner. She couldn't even see Bra anymore. Pan couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Had she done something terribly wrong?

"Look," her mom said after looking around a bit to make sure no one of consequence was looking, "I'm glad Bra is finally out of the house. After what happened, we were all worried about her, but what the hell?"

"What do you mean, 'what the hell'?" Pan asked confused.

"With her?" her mom questioned further. "We all know that she had something to do with Malachi's death—

"Mom!" Pan said cutting across her. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"It's true. He was fine before he met Bra and then we all watched as she tore that poor man down until there was nothing left. And the Briefs family—they all just watched it happen. Look at me right now and tell me Bra had nothing to do with his death."

Pan looked at her stonily but realized that she couldn't say it. Mom knew that she wasn't good at lying. "She didn't mean to," she said finally.

"Sure, I'll give her that, but she did it all the same. We all saw him in the hospital. He couldn't even breathe on his own without help. For someone so young, it was really startling to see. She's careless. If you were in my shoes, would you really not be concerned about your only daughter dating someone like that?"

"I'm pretty strong, Mom. You know that."

"So was Malachi or do you think he was weak?"

"Well, no…"

"None of that matters anyway. You'll have your guard down around her. That girl can get away with murder and face no consequences. We may be civil with the Briefs all the time, but make no mistake, they hold a lot of power over us and everyone around them. They're really nice, don't get me wrong, but you have to be careful."

"Alright, Mom, I get it, but I don't blame her about Malachi. It's not like he didn't contribute to his own demise." It pained Pan even to say it, she had to take some of the heat off Bra.

"We all have our demons. I'm sure Bra didn't help him at all in those regards. But enough about that—are you two actually dating?"

"Well…I don't know."

"What about Auden?"

"Mom, it's complicated. You always want to talk about who I'm seeing all the time and I mentioned Auden, but it's not like we were dating, dating."

Videl shook her head at this. "I didn't like Auden either, but he's far better than Bra."

"You don't hold back, do you?"

"Only because I care about you and you have me worried everyday the way you live by yourself far away from home. I have to call you or else I won't ever hear from you. Then I have to draw my own conclusions."

"I'm sorry about that, but I had to leave home. It was too much for me to stay home all the time. I wanted my own space. And the way you're interrogating me right now—I definitely don't regret my decision."

The hurt on her face almost made Pan regret saying her last sentence, but she wasn't going to bite her tongue after she'd attacked Bra.

Videl sighed at this. "I'm sorry, I really am, honey. Maybe this wasn't the best way to meet each other and maybe I should have just walked by when I saw you, but I just couldn't. I'm worried and I had to let you know. But I guess this is the perfect time to tell you that your father's birthday is coming up. It'd be nice if you showed up to celebrate."

"I'll think about it."

"C'mon, honey. I know you don't like me all that much, but I thought you had a decent relationship with your dad."

"I guess we're fine. We're just not interested in the same things anymore. You guys are really great with doing nothing when the world is falling apart."

"Here we go again," Videl said shaking her head. "What do you expect us to do? I've stepped back from martial arts and your father wants to focus more on just living a normal life. That's all we've ever wanted really."

"But at what cost?"

"No one's stopping you from pursuing your dreams, Pan. Please don't force us to do that."

Pan looked away at this. "I'll come over for his birthday."

"You can bring friends, if you want, even Bra. I don't think your dad would mind."

"Of course he wouldn't," Pan said with a sigh. "I'm guessing Grandma is coming too, right."

"And her father. Probably won't be a lot of people."

"Bet she'll be doing the cooking too."

"As always," her mom said with a smile. "Can't stop her once she starts."

"She keeps forgetting it's just us eating."

Her mom's smile faded a little. "More leftovers for us then."

"I'll see if I can get Goten," Pan volunteered.

"Don't bother, he already said he'll be busy. He sends his regards though."

"Again?"

"Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black? He visits way more than you do. It's no big deal, really."

"I'll try to call you more often, alright? I know I've been failing as of late, but you know I haven't been in the mood for awhile now. I think I'm getting better; you don't have to worry about me."

"I'll worry about you regardless and I'd much prefer to see you in person. You can still fly, can't you?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Alright then," she said smiling. "I don't want to bother you too long. Have a good evening and please stay safe."

"I will, Mom."

Pan hesitated for a moment, but then hugged her mom before parting ways. She watched as her mom disappeared into the lessening crowds. Her mom's warnings had not fallen on deaf ears, but her mom didn't know what she did about Bra. It wasn't as if Bra didn't blame herself. She seemed different these days, more thoughtful and reflective. Pan had never felt endangered while around her. Malachi had been different, but saying that because he was human, he had a clear disadvantage didn't sit right with her. She knew it was because him being human should not have mattered. As much as he accommodated her, Bra should have accommodated him if they were in such a caring relationship. Pan didn't want to think along those lines too long.

Her phone beeped startling her out of her ruminations. It was Auden again—only the second text he'd sent after leaving him hanging for hours: _I hate to bother you, but are you doing, alright?_ Her hands wrapped around her phone a little tighter wishing he would stop being so concerned and so nice. She'd wanted to start things with him so this should have been fine. Tiring of leaving her dilemmas on the backburner, she tapped his number and pulled the phone to her face. Maybe this was a good time to call or a bad time, but allowing this to go any further probably wouldn't be good for her health and would likely ruin a perfectly nice day at the festival.

"Hello, Pan," he answered pleasantly. There was far more emotion there than usual which immediately bothered her.

"Hi. Sorry for not replying in so long. I was a little busy."

"I figured," he said simply with understanding. "How has your day been?"

Pan could hear a sizzling pan in the background coming through the phone. Whatever it was, was making her mouth water despite her food-filled day at the festival. "You're cooking?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Yes, weird I know, but I thought I might try it out again after so long. It's just me who has to suffer through the end results anyway."

"Whatsa cooking?"

"I'm attempting fried rice."

"Good luck."

"Even following a recipe, it could all turn out bad. I've never found a perfect recipe out there that didn't need some tweaking and I've yet to stray from the recipe so I know I'm doing something wrong."

"Why don't you just let your phone do it?—It can do everything else."

"Cute," he said with a chuckle.

Pan nearly dropped the phone. Was that a laugh just then? Was he capable of doing that? Wait, that's a silly question. Of course he could do that. Still her cheeks were already burning as a result. She was capable of making him laugh?

"You still there?" he asked concerned when she was quiet for too long.

"Oh, yeah, fine. I—well, I hope you end up with something decent. There's a reason I called though," Pan said knowing that she shouldn't drag this out too long. "I've been a little confused about 'us', about where we stand with each other."

He was quiet for a moment. "I wasn't aware."

Pan wondered if that was a fact or not. "I just wanted to know: do you consider us friends or more than that or do you even want more than that?"

"We're friends, right?" he asked uncertainly, "Or is that too strong a word? I'm sorry for being such a bother with my texting—I'm just rather new to this. I've not had many friends or acquaintances. We can just be acquaintances, if you like—

"Wait, no, I'm not upset or anything. You didn't do anything wrong. You've been perfect."

Auden snorted at this. "Now 'perfect' definitely doesn't sound right. I know I'm difficult to by around."

"I love hanging out with you."

"I would say the same about you."

Her cheeks were burning even brighter now. "I just want to know if that's all we are to each other. We're just friends?"

"Just friends," he confirmed confidently.

"A-Are you sure about that? You don't want something more?"

"Pan…" he began slowly.

She heard the distress clearly in his tone and the way he'd said her name didn't help her blushing fit.

"Though it's true that I'm perfectly single and you happen to be as well, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to pursue anything deeper than that. I enjoy the time we spend together, but I would feel uncomfortable being with someone so…young."

"Seriously?" Pan said with her voice becoming hoarse as her eyes began to moisten. "Have you never—I mean, you never saw me like that? I'm just a little girl to you?"

"No, not a _little_ girl—

"So you just led me on?"

"I didn't mean to, if that was the case. I really like you as a friend—and that's really important to me. I don't know how to explain it or have it make anymore sense, but it's very important. I would never imagine that you would see me in the way that you're suggesting. It seems so left field."

"You're friend-zoning me," Pan stated. Her voice was shaking now as one tear and then another rolled down.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked cautiously.

Pan could barely get her mouth to move. "Y-Yes!" Then the torrent of tears came as she could hardly keep it together. She was already being pathetic in front of someone she'd had a crush on since the very beginning. It was much too late. She was probably just some immature little girl to him.

"Pan, are you alright?" he asked. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—are you crying?" he asked in shock and worry, but Pan couldn't take his pity and ended the call so that she could cry in peace. She ignored her phone as it began to vibrate over and over again.

She'd expected having to talk him off a ledge after telling him that she wanted to break ties with him because she was seeing someone else, but she'd read the entire situation wrong. Her feelings had been painfully one-sided and she hadn't even noticed! All this stressing out about what he would think of this had been pointless. He'd never once had a crush on her. He'd flirted with her at the restaurant, but apparently not because he was trying to woo her. Maybe he'd simply thought it was funny and she hadn't completely grasped his sense of humor. She'd been taking him too seriously this whole time, seeing signs when there were none. He was just a really nice guy hoping to make a new friend and that was all. It was a difficult pill to swallow. She felt incredibly silly and incredibly empty.

"Pan? What the hell? I let you out of my sight for a few minutes and you're balling your eyes out in the middle of the street?"

It was Bra and Pan was relieved to hear her voice. Bra came to stand in front of her and pulled her into an embrace. She ran a soothing hand down her back.

"It's okay. Whatever it is, it'll be alright. We'll figure it out."

"I'm so stupid."

"No, you're not. Only I'm allowed to say that about myself."

"But it's just true this time."

She cried into her chest for a few minutes until Bra pulled away taking up one of Pan's hand in the process. "C'mon, let's not stand around. Let's keep walking, alright?"

Pan nodded though still sniffling. Bra was quiet as the soft thrum of conversation occurring around them from the thinning crowd filled the air. The sound of live instruments being expertly played floated through the streets along with the soft pattering of a thousand feet. It was the smell of grilled food that eventually calmed her along with the time needed to think about something other than the conversation she'd had with Auden.

"Want to go home?" Bra asked after a while.

"We didn't even get the chance to the see the main attraction."

"Their top new invention this year? I think it was a new vacuum cleaner—nothing too crazy."

"What about the fireworks?" Pan asked just in case. She didn't want to agree to leave if Bra wanted to stay.

Bra shrugged. "Seen it before. Think I've spent enough time outdoors." She smiled at me. "Let's grab as much food as we can and go back into hiding."

The mention of food perked both of them up as they started making their way back to the car. It took them half an hour to do so. Pan was glad when they were back out on the road again. They'd taken a car to get there and Pan was grateful that she didn't have to muster up the will to fly.

Once back at Malachi's place, Bra randomly suggested they watch a movie and then Pan demanded that it be an action movie. Instead of using the bed, they stayed on the floor and spread out all the food before them. There were a lot of movies to choose from and Pan was fine with Bra picking the cheesiest action flick she could find.

It was the perfect ending to the day as far as Pan was concerned. Bra fell asleep midway through the movie which was just as well. Bra was cuddled up against her with her head buried in her breasts. It must have been a while since Bra had had so much activity in one day. Pan wrapped an arm protectively around her and then began running her hand through her soft, silky hair. She'd never done such a thing before, but her hair was simply heavenly. Of course, Bra had the best hair—she'd admired her blue locks at a distance for all her life. Her musings were interrupted by her vibrating phone. She let it go without checking not wanting to deal with anyone other than Bra. In fact, she flicked off the television so that she could be in complete silence.

But her phone just wouldn't stop just like before. It carried on for much longer though. She thought of just turning it off, but her curiosity won out and she read the caller ID: "unknown". That piqued her interest as her eyebrows furrowed. A slight shiver of fear went down her back. She lifted the phone to her ear after finally accepting the call.

"Hello?" Pan asked.

"Pan?" came a little girl's voice much to Pan's surprise.

"Who wants to know?"

"It's just me: Aster." The voice already sounded irate.

"Oh," Pan said confused. "How did you get my—

"Stupid question," Aster said cutting her off. "It should be obvious. Anyway, I need you to talk to my dad."

"I don't really feel like—

"Tough. He says he's fine, but he's not fine. I don't know what the hell happened between you and him, but you need to fix it now."

"Aster, this is between me and him, alright?"

"Oh that's rich coming from you. You drag him into some weird little relationship with you because you're feeling lonely and then once you're done, you kick him to the curb. I know people don't really care about him so it's easy for people to do. It doesn't surprise me that you're just the same. I'm always the one to pick up the pieces once everything's all said in done. Here is me asking you to consider someone else's feelings over your own."

"You're making a lot of assumptions right now—

"I know my dad couldn't have done anything wrong and you're probably just being a brat. You've gotten to know him somewhat, haven't you? I'm sure you've noticed that he's not quite like everyone else. He can't just get over things easily like everyone else. He goes to a therapist every other day just to function somewhat normally and takes a ton of medication."

"Yeah, I know," Pan said closing her eyes.

"Okay, then. Don't ever leave him hanging like that. Don't ever make him worry about you. How dare you make him waste his precious energy on something that's probably your fault and your misunderstanding. Talk to him, please."

"You could try being nicer and not acting like he's some kind of child who needs protecting," Pan argued.

"Screw your rules and your morals. No one will be there when he fails and no one will care. None of that 'being nicer' crap matters when he becomes totally unreachable and no one can talk to him. I'm telling you what you need to do now to avoid all of that."

Pan's eyebrows furrowed. "You're frustrating to talk to. Just put me on the phone with him. I doubt it's as serious as you're making it, but I care about him too, okay?"

Aster didn't even bother responding as Pan listened to her bounding feet through the apartment. Pan didn't really know what to think. Somehow, she'd forgotten how Auden might have taken her hanging up like that. It had all been too much at the time. Perhaps it was better that they were simply friends and nothing more. Having to worry about his state of mind was just beginning to become a little tiring. Maybe she'd finally taken off her rose-colored glasses. He was a much older man with a lot of baggage. As close as they were, he hadn't even begun to disclose to her what that baggage might be. It made more sense now why he was always reminding her how terrible he was around people and that it's okay if she didn't want to spend so much time with him. He saw reality clearer than she did apparently.

"Daddy, it's Pan," Aster declared. There was no response for a while and that worried Pan a little especially when Aster had to repeat herself.

"Did you actually call her?" Pan heard Auden's voice as clear as day over the phone. "Why would you do that? I told you not to bother her."

"She called me," Aster lied.

"How naïve do you think I am?"

"Seriously, she's on the line and she can hear all this. You better take it."

"I suppose I have to then."

Pan noticed the total lack of emotion in his tone—the very same tone she'd heard on the first day they'd met. She hadn't noticed until now, but for some time he'd seemed to be putting more effort into revealing what he was feeling through outward cues. The difference now was stark.

"Hello, is this Pan?" he asked to her. His voice was closer, he'd taken the phone from Aster apparently.

"Yep, the one and only." Why was she sounding so perky all of a sudden? Was it to drown out his chilling apathy?

"I'm sorry that my brash daughter has been bothering you. Please disregard this call."

"Wait," Pan said quickly. It felt as if he was about to hang up. "It's alright. Maybe it's a good thing she called me. I've cooled off since then. I'm sorry things just blew up."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Pan paused at this sentiment. "No, no there's nothing wrong, alright? It was just a misunderstanding. I was being foolish. I was assuming things."

"I don't see you as foolish. Clearly, there were some actions I took that lead you to that conclusion. I'm not the greatest with making friends. I thought it would be a good idea to keep your interest so that you didn't simply grow bored of me. I might have gone too far in those regards. I'm really sor—

"Please stop apologizing," Pan said more forcefully.

"That's the only thing I can think to do."

"I'm sorry for being selfish—

"Pan—

"Let me finish. I wanted to let you know that I was seeing someone else, so I called you because I was feeling guilty about it. I didn't expect you to say that we were just friends and that you weren't pining after me the way I was you. It was a huge blow to my ego—apparently, I have that. It's actually a good thing that we're just friends. It makes things far less complicated."

"Ah, I see. I didn't respond as you thought I should. Would it make you feel better, if I'd told you that I did see you as more than a friend?"

"Well…"

"You're a very special person, Pan. You don't need me holding you back or to validate you. I've always been perplexed as to why you would give me the time of day. For what it's worth, I think you're beautiful, intelligent, priceless and one who should rightfully have a huge ego and wonder why all guys don't just fall for you by simply looking your way."

"Auden!" Pan said in a loud whisper so as not to wake up Bra. She was burning hot red again.

"I don't want you to think that there's something wrong with you just because I don't see you that way. I'm just at a different point in my life than you are. You want things that I simply cannot give."

"I get it," Pan said with a nod. She laid back on the ground. "It would be nice just to be friends to just be like we are right now. We can tell each other anything, no strings attached."

"That sounds nice."

Despite him saying it, his tone certainly didn't express the same thing. Pan wondered just how much damage she'd done to him. She doubted he'd be willing to let her in on that. It was one of those topics Pan could tell he hated talking to her about. It could be a pride thing or it could be that he cared too much about how that might affect her or he simply didn't like the idea of being worried over. She couldn't tell.

"Hey, my dad's birthday is coming up. I want you to come with me as a friend."

"Pan…"

"I literally don't think I'd be able to survive my family without some protection."

"And your idea of protection is bringing me along? Scraping at the bottom of the barrel, aren't we?"

"You're not that bad, Auden. You're honestly my best bet."

"I'll do it for you, Pan. Just tell me the time and place."

"That was easy. What about the whole not liking crowds thing?"

"It won't be that big, will it? And you'll be there, right?"

"Yeah and yeah. Just a few people. It's pretty chill."

"Is there a particular way I should be when meeting your family?"

"Just be yourself. There's no way you can make me upset. My family's a bit conservative though, but I think you'd fit right in."

"Fine, then. I'll just…prepare myself for that time."

"If it's too much, you don't have to do it," Pan reminded him a little worried.

"No, this is baby steps for me. I do need a bit of a challenge every now and then. I'm sure if they're anything like you, I'll be fine."

"Well, as long as you know what you're doing…"

There was a lull in the conversation until Auden eventually told her to have a good night. For some reason, Pan wanted to stay on the phone with him all night. It was a complete 180-degree change based on how she was feeling before. At least she knew she'd see him again in person soon and she felt quite giddy about it both in excitement and apprehension.

Pan felt as if she was having her cake and eating it too. She could now have two of her favorite people in her life continuously and not feel bad about it. Auden was definitely a friend. All in the span of a few hours, she saw him differently now and wondered why she hadn't seen him that way from the beginning. Of course, he was still quite handsome and blonde and…Well, she didn't want to go down that road again. He wasn't quite her type if she was being honest about it. The aversion to touch was a bit much. And, Bra on the other hand—for now, things were working out surprisingly well with her. She'd known this woman forever. Pan wondered why it was so different now. Had Malachi's passing really changed them this much?

Bra pulled herself closer to her since Pan had long since rolled over on her back talking on the phone.

"You and Auden okay now?" Bra asked tiredly.

A little shock went through her knowing that she'd been listening.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Good, now go to sleep already."

Pan grinned at this, but eventually followed orders.


	5. Lady of the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pan and Auden visit Gohan to celebrate his birthday.

Auden waited for Pan to come out of her apartment. He yawned despite having set this day aside for Pan's father's birthday. There was never a day he could recall when he hadn't been somewhat tired as his medication generally sapped what energy he did have. He wondered why he'd agreed to accompany her so readily knowing that the entire thing would be an ordeal. She'd been upset and he'd wanted to ingratiate himself with her again. For all intents and purposes, he was ready. His therapist had given him ways to cope with such situations, but he'd never actually put them to use preferring always to avoid the problem.

It took her another ten minutes to join him in the car. She wore a floral blouse and skintight jeans. Rarely did Auden ever see her wear something other than some variation of a red cotton T-shirt on her off-work days. Today must have indeed been special for her even with her unusual lateness.

"You look nice today," Pan noted with a smile, "And you're wearing my favorite cologne."

"Thank you, but I only have one cologne. You look nice as well."

Auden had already begun driving off through the parking lot.

Pan turned her gaze to the window. "This is going to be a long trip…I wonder if we should have flown."

"You could have. You still can actually."

"And leave you all alone? I'd rather keep you company. Besides, I don't want to go there on my own."

"They're your family, right? I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad."

He couldn't figure out why Pan was so anxious about this. Though there were some disagreements she had with her mom, he still didn't think that that was enough to explain it.

Pan left his last statement hanging in the air for almost a minute before responding. "I'm probably just blowing this all out of proportion. I just haven't really spent time with them like a family in years now. It almost feels a bit random that I'm deciding to do something about that now."

"Better late than never. They've extended an invitation to you. I bet they can't wait to see you again."

"You'd think."

She seemed distressed as she gazed through the passenger's side window. It felt odd that he was trying to calm her and not the other way around. For the moment, he felt at ease. He hoped it remained that way. He was ready for the worst. He was ready for intrusive questions. He was ready to meet new people. Excluding Pan, there would be five people there and hopefully not too many more.

"How is your father like?" he asked knowing that if there was going to be an issue, it would be with him.

"He's a good guy," Pan said, "He's harmless, if you're worried about him. My mom though…"

She didn't expound on that point and Auden didn't push her on it. Despite her warning, he didn't think he'd have much issue with her mother. It was easier for him to deal with other women than other men and he suspected that her father might be a bit more protective of her than Pan realized, but only time would tell if his predictions were correct. He didn't exactly have much experience with a family such as hers. He'd seen things on TV, read in books, or heard in conversations how that might be like in reality—hopefully he'd derived some truths from those sources.

Her grandmother and great grandfather would be there, and he hadn't the slightest clue how that would be like. It made him a bit nervous, but they would be older and likely wiser. With such people, he got along well. In fact, he preferred older people despite never managing to associate himself with them. It was likely because he was so entrenched in the ever-changing technology world which generally attracted the much younger crowd. Being without at least his cellphone was a bit like being without a part of himself. Of course, he had it with him today, fully charged. The battery could last for days and it could also charge fairly quickly on solar energy alone.

Auden was content driving in complete silence, but he knew that this likely wasn't the norm for other people. Since they'd be driving for hours and he didn't foresee that they'd be able to keep up a conversation the entire time, he wondered if she was fine with extended silence. She seemed a mixture of bored and anxious as the minutes wore on. If she was irritated, she definitely would have said so. Eventually, she closed her eyes as if to fall asleep and mostly remained that way for the rest of the long drive. She must have truly been determined to arrive at the same time as him. If he could easily travel to places in record time, he'd be hard-pressed to find a reason to not use that method every time.

It was early afternoon by the time they arrived. Once they'd made it to Satan City, Pan had already been sitting up a bit straighter in her seat. She seemed no less weary, but her mood didn't rub off on him. The GPS built-in to the car led them directly to the house. Somehow, he'd expected something more modest, but the residence was practically a mansion. For two people, it seemed a bit excessive. Either they had a maid, or they would have to spend hours trying to keep a place like that relatively clean. There were three cars in the driveway as he pulled up.

"Looks like everyone's already here," Pan said drearily. "I'm sure Grandma's been awake since the crack of dawn."

"Early birds, I see."

"Something like that."

Auden climbed out of the car along with Pan and he waited for her to lead the way. Her dreary expression softened by the time they made it to the front door likely because she remembered that they were supposed to be celebrating rather than stewing in apprehension. They stood before the door and Pan was hesitating.

"Do you think it was a good idea of me to bring you along?" she asked finally.

He looked at her surprised. "I have no idea, but it's too late for second guessing. We can only make the best of the situation. These are people you know," he reminded her. "They invited you. They want you to be here."

"Yeah, sure," she said looking straight ahead.

She knocked lightly on the door. Auden wondered if anyone had heard, but the door opened a few moments later. A dark-haired woman greeted them happily.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you made it, honey," the woman said with a smile.

"Hey, Mom," Pan said sheepishly.

It was an endearing scene to behold. This was apparently the woman he was supposed to be weary of, but he couldn't help but feel at ease seeing the obvious affection she had for her daughter.

"Mom, this is Auden. Auden, this is Mom," Pan said pulling away from the embrace after a few moments.

The woman appeared to not have even noticed him until that moment. All her attention must have been on Pan which was a telling observation. Just how much had Pan neglected visiting her?

"Oh," the woman said as if caught by surprised. She smiled at him warmly. "Wow—" She looked over at Pan as if confused which drew an irritated huff from her. Auden didn't know what to make of the exchange, but he was sure some unspoken message had passed between the two. "I mean, how rude—I meant to say: nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Auden said with a brief nod. He probably should have smiled as well but he at least managed a friendly tone and that was difficult enough.

"And, please, call me Videl," she said with a laugh.

Pan laughed as well. "Uh, sorry, Mom, I didn't know how to introduce you."

"Oh, it's fine, honey."

"Videl, then," Auden said trying out the name. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, come on in, everyone. We were all waiting for you! The food's almost ready." she said cheerfully as she led them into the house.

Pan made sure to close and lock the door before coming along. It was a well-kept place purposefully furnished in a modern style. The living room they passed through seemed far more like a lived-in area with framed pictures of people likely in their family. They eventually arrived in what Auden assumed was the family room. It had much more space and he could see three other people already there. One man seemed to fill up one-fourth of the room and towered over him, but he seemed congenial. Then there was a comparably smaller man who matched his own height and wore eyeglasses as well who seemed equally as affable as the other. Finally, there was Hercule who used to be far more famous back in the day. He was still a household name and it was interesting to meet his family under such circumstances. Pan didn't think he was a big deal and only mentioned that Hercule was her grandfather when he'd asked about her family not too long ago.

Auden met and shook hands with everyone, and they all seemed surprised upon meeting him. It became clear to him that something about him was unexpected. "So you're Auden?", they all essentially said to him. He was missing something, but he couldn't really put his finger on it. There was one person missing. Counting in his head, he determined that it was the grandmother who wasn't around. He could smell the food by now and it was already making his mouth water. He hadn't even eaten breakfast and now he was skipping lunch as well as time wore on. It wasn't something he did often, and he remembered why as he felt his stomach twisting around on itself. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who was hungry. It came as no surprise to him that Pan's great grandfather known as the Ox King seemed just as ready for the food to be done. With how much was being made, Auden imagined that they must have hired cooks for the special occasion.

He made his way lastly to Pan's father who'd introduced himself as Gohan. He was the one that this gathering was about after all—he didn't want to bogart his attention. He'd been speaking with Videl, but she'd just left him to take care of some business in some other part of the house. Gohan was for a moment, by himself. He seemed cheerful enough and he'd been quite welcoming thus far.

"Auden," Gohan said when he approached. "It's nice to finally meet the guy Pan's been talking about for so long. I have to say though, you weren't what we were expecting."

"I've gotten that impression from everyone now. What exactly were you expecting?"

Gohan laughed sheepishly at this. "Nevermind that. Seeing you in person just puts things in perspective. So, I heard you work for CC as well?"

"Yes, as a glorified technician. I manage one of their internal departments."

"Maybe that's why I haven't heard of you there. CC is a pretty huge corporation with a lot of moving parts."

"And what do you do?" Auden asked curious.

"Officially, I'm one of their researchers. It's more of a work-from-home position—way more challenging than it sounds."

"I can only imagine. CC would probably have great need for that kind of work though they usually outsource that sort of thing to other companies."

"Well, I came highly recommended."

"Apparently."

Pan had ties to the Briefs family. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that Gohan did as well. This was likely another instance of favoritism on CC's part, but he couldn't complain too much. Bulma had given him a job no questions asked in the company. Of course, he certainly wasn't offered a position which allowed him to stay at home and he had to work years to reach the level he was now.

"I see you're wearing one of those black rings."

"Ah, yes," Auden said, holding his hand up for a moment showing the ring a little better. He never imagined that people would ever notice it, but twice now in his lifetime it was pointed out.

"Maybe that's why Pan is so taken with you."

"I assure you, we're simply friends."

"Of course, of course," he said chuckling.

Auden felt relieved for a moment, but then he noticed him become quiet as he seemed to pay closer attention to him. He felt like a fly in a petri dish as his eyes narrowed somewhat.

"Let's talk somewhere more private," Gohan suggested.

"Alright," Auden replied completely at a loss as to what he was getting himself into.

Gohan led him a little further into the house near what Auden supposed were steps that went down into the den or something like that. He stood in front of him now, his expression a great deal more guarded.

"What, exactly, are your intentions with my daughter."

The air had suddenly become cold between them. Pan hadn't warned him about this, but he wasn't completely caught off guard. "We're friends," Auden repeated. "I reached out to her some time after the funeral and it seemed like she really needed someone to talk to and I could say the same for myself. Regrettably, I don't really get out much, so it was a departure from the norm for me."

"One thing just led to another?" he asked pleasantly though his arms were crossed.

"Well, yes, as far as friendships go."

"Have you ever been married before?"

Auden was puzzled at the question, but he answered sincerely. "No."

"And how is it after all of this time, you're still a bachelor?"

"Frankly, I'm more amazed that people are able to find someone so early on in their lives." Gohan seemed pensive at this answer, but Auden continued. "For a good portion of my life, I wasn't thinking along those lines. I had more pressing matters to concern myself with. Recently, however, I suppose I've given it some thought."

"Those pressing matters," Gohan said slowly, "What is an example of that?"

"Perhaps a major part was figuring out how to even live in the first place. I know that sounds strange, I apologize—

"No, I understand," Gohan interrupted. It wasn't likely that he did, but he probably realized that it was personal since Auden was being so vague. "I was just curious. I don't sense any ill-will from you."

"I'm not interested in your daughter," Auden said straight-forwardly. "I accompanied her here at her behest."

"You sound very certain of that," he noted aloud. He watched Auden for a moment longer. "And I believe you."

"I apologize for any misunderstanding."

"No," he said dismissively. "You haven't done anything wrong. Videl has just been overly worried as of late. I tend to just stay out of things like this. I think those two just have some things to work out with each other. Pan showing up today definitely helps."

"Hey, you two, food's ready," Pan's voice interrupted them from the hallway nearby. "And I swear I'll eat everything if you keep us waiting too long," she finished with a wink.

"Be right there," Gohan said suddenly a great deal more animated.

Auden could scarcely keep up as they made a beeline for the dining room. Pan pulled him to the side right before they entered. She wore a concerned mask.

"Are you alright? Was Dad giving you a hard time?"

"I'm fine," Auden said as reassuringly as he could muster. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

Pan was somewhat relieved, but Auden had already proceeded forward as he didn't have much else to add to the conversation and he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention. As he looked around, he saw a large dining room table stretching over half the room with a comically extensive amount of food set all along it. He hadn't realized that this was Thanksgiving. Auden was glad that he was so starving then. He knew he couldn't possibly partake in every variety of food on display, but he'd at least have more than usual in one sitting. The Son family didn't seem to have much in the way of formalities when it came to this occasion which was just as well. They dug in as soon as everyone was seated and soon everyone was passing this and that food item to each other. Still, Auden did not spy the last person who was supposed to be there. Maybe Pan's grandmother had decided to come later.

The mood lightened considerably as they were enjoying themselves and at some points the room became filled with just the noises of eating and utensils hitting glass plates and bowls. Though Auden made his way through a lot of food, the Son family easily outpaced him. While he was done, most of them were still eating. He stayed and chatted with them for what felt like hours as they continued to empty the table of food. It was fascinating to witness, but also a little nauseating. He excused himself eventually to find the bathroom as it was just then becoming unbearable spending such a long time socializing with so many people at once.

He was relieved to return to some peace and quiet. In fact, he did have to use the bathroom, but after he was done with his business, he wasn't too keen on returning. He'd asked about the grandmother or Chi-Chi as the Ox King had referred to her and they seemed sure she would be joining them soon. They weren't very concerned about it. She must have been somewhere in the house. He was hoping he didn't run into her as he found a comfortable looking couch to sit down in and recollect himself. The tiring affair was just then taking its toll on him. He looked up the time realizing that he probably should take his medication right about now. He wouldn't hear the end of it from Aster otherwise. With a sigh, he returned to the bathroom and took up one of the disposable small plastic cups he'd seen on the shelf near the sink. He had no issue using faucet water to take his pills which he did in that moment. Judging from the high-income area they were in, the water quality was likely top-notch. He'd had worse. Auden lingered a bit in the bathroom before returning to the couch. He couldn't quite determine what room of the house it was, but it certainly didn't seem like a personal one and he could see the kitchen in the distance. Maybe they had two family rooms. It was a thought that drew a small chuckle from him. This was far too much for such a small family. He wondered what it must have been like growing up in such a place. He imagined Pan must have fond childhood memories with attentive parents who seemed to care deeply for her. It was a pleasant thought.

Though he hadn't meant to, he found himself dozing off. The walls were just thin enough for him to hear the low hum of conversation coming from the other room even some raucous laughter. He much rather listened to indistinguishable voices from afar than being included in it. It felt comforting to be near that kind of activity and life. It was both foreign and soothing. He'd taken off his glasses as it was irritating to rest while they were on and held them in his hand.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he felt the subtle movement of someone joining him on the couch. Opening his eyes in response became a task much harder than he thought; he'd been on the cusp of falling asleep completely and it was jarring to say the least. He thought he heard something small and wiry hitting the carpeted floor. When he squinted towards the new person, his view was blurry at best. His nearsightedness didn't make the situation any better.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. You seemed so peaceful." Her voice was completely unfamiliar.

"Maybe I should be the one apologizing. I'm just a guest and…" He lost his train of thought when he realized he didn't have his glasses in hand and had no clue as to where they were. If they were on the ground, he could hardly make them out. He started panicking a little.

"Here," the woman said as she climbed to her feet. Somewhere nearby she lifted his glasses from the ground and handed it to him.

"Th-Thank you," he said relieved as he quickly unfolded them to place on his face.

The woman giggled as she returned to her seat.

He paused for a moment with closed eyes to calm his racing heart.

"Are you alright?" she asked concerned. "I didn't mean to poke fun."

"No, it's fine. I was just a little startled."

"Beautiful eyes, by the way."

Auden was finally able to make out the woman and he was taken aback by what he saw. Was this Chi-Chi? There was something about her that had caught him off-guard, but he couldn't figure out just what that was.

"You sure you're in the right place?" she said with a grin, "You missed the modeling agency a few blocks away—Oh, that was so bad, I don't know why I bother."

He found himself speechless and staring dumbfoundedly.

"Am I being too forward?" she said after a few moments.

"N-No, I was just trying to find something clever to say back. I guess I'm not so good at that either."

He felt his cheeks burning and hoped desperately that she wouldn't draw attention to this.

"You must be—" they both began at the same time.

Chi-Chi laughed offhandedly at this. "It's fine—you go first."

"Well, ah, it's not pressing—

"You must be Auden," she blurted out.

He nodded to confirm her statement. "And you're Chi-Chi?" he asked cautiously.

"That would be me. I must be some sort of celebrity around here."

"I didn't see you out there with everyone else."

"I just came back from the dining room—after all that cooking, I need a break."

"Wait, you made all that food?"

Chi-Chi smiled widely at him. "Yep, that was me." She looked away as she thought further. "I might have gone a bit overboard though. No one's complaining though."

"That's incredible. I can't imagine having the energy to do all that."

"I couldn't either until I had the right motivation one day. Now I'm just used to it."

"And no one helps you with that?" Auden asked perplexed.

"Videl always asks, but I just like to get into my own rhythm."

"Hm, I see."

"Do you?" she asked looking at him again, "Or is that a catchphrase of yours?"

"No, I understand what you mean. When you have some project that you want to get done and you have it all planned out, even if it's a monumental task, it feels better just to do it all yourself without having to explain things to other people."

"Yeah, exactly. I had the whole thing planned out for Gohan—bought and prepped all the food days beforehand just so everything could go smoothly."

"It's a beautiful thing when it all comes together so well."

"Please, I could do it in my sleep," she said dismissively. "Well, if you excuse me, I'll let you get back to your nap—I have to get those dishes started."

"Let me help you."

Chi-Chi paused as she was climbing to her feet. "Really?"

"I'm not doing anything, clearly. Put me to work."

"You're on, but it's gonna' be a lot of dishes."

"Of course."

"I mean, _a lot_ of dishes," she warned again.

"I'm sure I can handle it," he replied nonchalantly.

"Okay, suit yourself. I could really use the help anyway. People might ask to help cooking, but everyone disappears when it comes to cleaning."

"I don't mind," he insisted.

The kitchen was only a few paces away. Near the sink, he could see piles of dirty plates, silverware, pots and pans. The sheer magnitude did surprise him a bit, but he was ready to wash some dishes. The challenge alone was motivating. He couldn't wait to wipe clean every single dish.

"I'll wash. You dry," he said simply.

Chi-Chi seemed impressed by this. "Alright," she said with a shrug.

Already, he was filling the sink with hot water and dishwashing detergent. He found the sponge nearby and began in earnest. It was a relaxing pastime—something he hadn't done in a while. By the time they got to the third dish, they'd gotten into a rhythm.

"You've done this before," Chi-Chi accused him humorously. "Like a lot."

"I haven't washed dishes in a very long time. You know they have these things called dishwashers," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but handwashing is so much more thorough. At least I know my dishes are clean."

"Dishwashers have improved a lot over the years—they can clean dishes far better than human hands with a fraction of the time."

"Ugh, you sound like my kids."

"Well, anything that makes life a little easier seems like it'd be worth trying out."

"And miss out on the smell of dishwashing detergent?"

"I must admit, this lemon scent brings back memories."

"Hopefully fond ones." She was rapidly drying off the next dripping clean plate he'd handed off to her.

"I had to do a fair amount of chores back then. This was definitely one of them. But I also worked as a dishwasher for some time—anything to make a little bit of money."

"Definitely a city boy then," she said cheekily.

"Through and through. I take it that's not the case for you."

"I used to only go to the city to go shopping every once in a while. Now I've been dragged out here with my family."

"And how do you like it?"

"It's…well, it's convenient to say the least."

"But you like using your hands. I'm sure it's been quite the readjustment for you."

"It has, but I guess it's for the best. Living out there in the forest—seems like a distant memory really."

"It sounds peaceful."

"It was. Only the sounds of nature came through whenever I opened the windows. We always had fresh fish from the lake nearby."

Auden glanced over at her and noticed that her eyes had closed at what was apparently cherished memories. His eyes softened at the pleasant glow exuding from her countenance. By the time she looked up again, he'd already returned his attention to the particularly messy dish he had in hand. His hands worked quickly scrubbing at the dried and drying morsels.

"The fish today tasted excellent," he commented.

"Don't even get me started on seafood. Everyone says it's my specialty."

"Perhaps you could give me some pointers on that."

"Maybe, if you're really that interested."

They worked in silence for a little while until Chi-Chi spoke again.

"Wow, we're really getting this done in record time. It usually takes me hours."

"Not while I'm here," he said confidently.

"I feel like I should be paying you or something. You don't understand—this is an all day affair. I won't know what to do with myself if we get done too early."

Auden wasn't sure how serious she was about that point. She wasn't exactly smiling after her last statement. "So, what do you do in your free time?" he asked genuinely curious.

"All my time is free time. I'm just some naggy, old lady spending the rest of her years pining over days long past and wishing things would all end just a little quicker."

He nearly dropped the pan he was holding and had quite the time grabbing it before it made a big splash into the water.

"Oh, sorry, that was a bit dark, wasn't it?" she said watching his antics.

With a sigh he handed her the small saucepan. "I'll drain the water again—it's getting a bit too dirty." After he did this, he looked again at her. "I suppose I don't know you all that well, but that does seem out of character for you. Is it really so bad in the city?"

"It's not that," she said shaking her head. "The city's fine. With all the bustle, it kind of keeps me going. If I were still back at my old place, things would be a lot worse. But I don't want to beat around the bush about it—I do have a lot of free time and I spend it taking care of the family. I really enjoy doing that. Actually, I wish I had a few more grandbabies to take care of, but they're really serious about only having one. And Pan? Well, she's a free-spirit, a bit like her grandfather."

"These days, it's expensive taking care of a child."

"Yeah, I know. It's not like how it used to be."

"I think the lives of people have greatly improved over the years. Things are simply different."

"Improved?" she asked dubiously. "Technology is encroaching on every aspect of life. People have become so attached to their phones…"

"I suppose there is an emphasis on technology but think of how much easier it is to attain vital information or the advancements made in medicine."

"I suppose," she said doubtfully. "It's just so much to take in. I guess that doesn't bother you, huh?"

"The idea that there is always something new being invented right around the corner, does excite me, but I understand how change can be stressful when it's happening so fast and continuously."

"So what about you? What do you do?"

The water was still filling up the sink and almost ready to be used once again. "I work for CC as tech support."

"Now I get it. All this technology stuff is right down your alley—just like Bulma."

"I would rather not be compared to her, but I see your point," he ended drily. He hadn't meant to be so obvious about his discontentment. It was more of a snap reaction.

"Oh, you must know her then," she said knowingly with a smile.

"Somewhat. Through her I was given a job at CC when no one else would give me the time of day. I'm grateful for her."

"Is that right? And yet you don't sound too fond of her."

"It's a long story."

"Isn't it always?"

They were interrupted when Pan stuck her head into the kitchen. She seemed a bit flustered.

"There you are," Pan said looking at Auden. "You just left the table so abruptly, I got a little worried." Her eyes glanced over at Chi-Chi. "Sorry, but we gotta' go. We both have work tomorrow and it's going to be a long drive."

"I hadn't realized it was getting so late. How about we leave as soon as we're finished with these dishes."

Pan glanced at what was left to do and noticed a few more stacks of pans that almost touched the ceiling. "You can't be serious," she said with disbelief. "That'll take ages to do. C'mon let's go already; Grandma loves doing this stuff. Right?"

"Well, if you gotta' go," Chi-Chi began.

"No," Auden said cutting her off. "I promised I'd help you. Let's finish this. Just give us another half an hour, alright?"

Pan looked at him wearily. "Okay, fine, suit yourself. You're supposed to be a guest, not hired help though," she said with a huff.

Auden had already returned to the task at hand. He waited for Pan to leave to look over at Chi-Chi. "So, how about it? You feel like picking up the pace?"

"Is that a challenge?" Chi-Chi said with a menacing grin.

"Don't slow me down. We have thirty minutes."

"You're on."

The carefree atmosphere suddenly became nothing but when Auden began again on the dishes with lightening speed. Water started to splash a bit more frequently and the poor sponge was smashed into oblivion as it ran over pan after pan. Chi-Chi had to switch out drying towels a few times as they quickly became soaking with use. She easily kept in pace with him and was always ready for the next dish, pan, or silverware that came her way. Their minds had become tunnel vision and minutes began to fly by.

In a little over twenty minutes, they had it all done and soon Chi-Chi was putting the dishes away as Auden cleaned up the mess they'd made—draining and cleaning the sink, wiping down the counters and stove, sweeping the floor and lastly mopping the floor in the last minute. The kitchen shined like new when all was said and done.

"Wow, we really make a good team, don't we?" Chi-Chi said with a cheerful laugh. "Now, I seriously don't know what to do with myself for the rest of the night."

"Hm, I appreciate the challenge."

"Yeah, you were actually enjoying yourself. You know, Auden—you're a rare breed. I can't remember a time anyone ever helped me out like that before. It's actually kind of refreshing."

"Glad I could be of help."

She smiled warmly at him. "Thanks."

"Now that our hands are all dry and wrinkly—maybe you can show me to the nearest bottle of lotion."

"Oh my gosh, you are such a city boy. C'mon, follow me."

Auden was led to the room with the comfortable couch. She went to a desk and pulled out a large tube of a rather luxurious lotion—Midnight Rose.

"It's a little girly, but Pan swears by this brand." She handed it to him.

"I'm not very picky." He squeezed some out of the tube for himself. He noticed that Chi-Chi had no intention of partaking in this as she had her hands to her side. "Hold out your hand," he implored.

Chi-Chi tsked at him. "It's not that serious."

"Your poor hands will thank you later and not start peeling."

"Fine," she said with a huff, finally holding her hands out. Much to her chagrin, he squeezed quite a bit on her hand. "Alright, I get it—I'm super dry."

"I meant no harm—that's as much as I give myself."

"Oh," she said likely feeling a bit silly. "You seem to take really good care of yourself—just like Bulma."

He frowned at this.

"I mean, well, I don't know—fill in the blank with somebody else who does the same," she said quickly.

"I do as much as necessary," he replied.

"I can tell you're around the same age as me though. The eyes always give it away. You've seen a lot over the years."

Auden looked at her thoughtfully. "I think that applies to both of us. You don't look so bad yourself."

"Oh please, says the guy who probably has the ladies swooning at one glance."

"I don't know about that. People generally keep their distance and I often prefer it that way."

"I find that hard to believe," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"See? Look at your hands now." He said changing the subject. "Lotion makes all the difference."

She touched her hands at this and then looked at him surprised. "Now, I've tried my fair share of lotions, but this is really something. It's really smooth!"

He'd picked up the bottle again looking at the ingredients and moved a little closer to her when he found what he was looking for. "The first two minerals have de-aging properties—something that's been on the market for years now. It used to be that only the expensive products had these kinds of ingredients, but now it's become much easier to synthesize and mass-produce. It's quite popular these days."

"Giving me a crash course in cosmetics, city boy?"

"Like I said, information is so easy to come by. A quick web search would have gotten you to the same answers as I did long ago."

"I just never paid it much mind," Chi-Chi said relenting. "I guess I didn't think it mattered much. I'm not the kind of person who does deep-dives into mundane things like lotion."

"I suppose ladies from the forest have better things to tend to," he said with a grin.

She seemed amused by his statement. "I think I like that nickname."

"Perhaps we should exchange numbers," he said after a moment. He took out his cellphone. "If you don't mind."

"Oh, like cellphone numbers?" she said caught off guard. "I don't really…own a cellphone. But you can call the house phone."

"I have no idea how one survives without a cellphone. Landlines are practically on its deathbed as far as technology goes."

"Geez, rub it in, will ya? I don't get out much."

"I don't either. That's no excuse."

"Whatever. Just call me on the home phone."

He sighed at this. "Well, I suppose I'll have to."

She quickly recited the number and he recorded it in his device.

"Ugh, now are you ready?" Pan's voice rang out cutting into their conversation. Chi-Chi had just opened her mouth to say something else, but she quickly abandoned whatever it was. "Thirty minutes? More like _forty_ minutes. Let's go already!"

Pan seemed unaware of how perturbed he was as she entered the room.

"Alright, I guess it's time for the kids to leave," Chi-Chi said dismissively.

Auden looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she smiled briefly at him. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"Yes, better to leave the rest of the chores to the grown-ups," Auden said smoothly as he made his way towards Pan.

Pan looked at them with an odd expression, but then moved on quickly, glad that she could finally drag Auden out of there. They made their rounds saying goodbye to everyone still there and made a beeline for the car. Auden was a bit more alert than usual at this time of day. They had hours of driving ahead of them and he was surprised Pan was still insisting to sit in the vehicle with him.

"They dragged that out. I swear Mom didn't want me to leave until next week," Pan complained.

"I had a nice time there."

"Yeah, after ducking out midway through."

"Sorry about that—I had to take a break from everyone for a while."

She looked at him with understanding. "I had a feeling. You did really well considering."

"I suppose with practice, I could become a little better. I think it's nice how much your family wants you around."

"Yeah, I guess. I know I must sound so selfish right now, right? It's just you and your daughter and I'm complaining about having parents and all that. We just don't see eye to eye on certain things and it's annoying."

"I know it might sound difficult to do now, but perhaps it would be better if you focused on the things you do agree with. I'm sure they just want what's best for you."

Pan didn't say anything back for a few minutes just as the car merged out onto the highway. "I'll try next time…for my dad's sake."

"You won't regret it."

Auden felt her eyes on him for a moment before returning to the window. "I guess you're speaking from experience, huh. Like with your own mom."

He nodded at this. "But it's just my opinion, in the end. Do what you think is best."

"I know."

As the drive wore on, Pan fell asleep along the way. He had to nudge her back to wakefulness when they were back at her place in the apartment complex.

"Thanks again for coming with me, Auden. Have a good night," she said as she opened the door.

"It was an honor joining you today and meeting new people as well. Good night."

Auden watched her safely climb the stairs before pulling off again. After another half an hour, he made it back to his place in record time in the dead of night. He stumbled back into his place as exhaustion finally came crashing down on him. Now that it was all over, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He'd made it without any mishap. It was definitely a milestone for him. He checked first for Aster, but she wasn't there as was now becoming the norm. Without bothering to change into his nightclothes, he crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep leaving his thoughts about Chi-Chi to be more thoroughly examined at a later time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Curve balls is my middle name.


	6. A Path to New Namek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma asks for help from Auden on a little project of hers.

Auden yawned as he drove home that evening. Work hadn't been particularly kind to him that day. The allergy season was really hitting his employees hard as it always did when Spring went into full swing. He was practically working with a skeleton crew and it would likely be that way for the next few days. The very thought of it sounded tiring, but he'd have to take it one day at a time.

His phone began to ring as he waited for the latest traffic light to turn green. Looking at the Caller ID, he knew instantly that it was Bulma—he sighed with displeasure. It wasn't altogether surprising to get a call from her these days. She'd claim she was bored and just want to talk, but he suspected that she was fishing for something, likely to see how he was doing. Aster was always over at their place from what he could tell and perhaps her presence reminded her of his existence and piqued her curiosity. Every time she called, he made sure to keep things very surface-level and unobtrusive. Whenever she tried to ask questions that were too personal, he would disregard them completely. Usually their call would end shortly after. It was a tiring affair that he didn't particularly feel like dealing with right now, but he didn't want to make things harder for Aster or himself. He answered despite himself.

"Hello?" he asked plainly.

"Oh, Auden, you know it's me, right? Your fancy phone doesn't have Caller ID?"

"I don't like to assume. Someone else could have your phone."

"I told you before—no one uses this phone, but me."

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Auden heard her sighing exasperatedly over the phone. He knew exactly what he was doing as he refocused the conversation.

"Well, I have a little problem. It's been driving me crazy for months now. I thought I could figure it out, but, apparently not. I really need your help with this program I'm trying to create. I know this is spur of the moment, but it's really important to me."

"This sounds serious," he replied after a moment. "I'll lend my help in whatever way I can."

He wondered about her supposed issue knowing that Bulma was well-versed in hardware and software. Was there really something that he could come up with that she couldn't? Maybe this was some sort of trap.

"Really? You'll come over right now? I hope this isn't a bad time."

He couldn't turn back after volunteering so readily. Wanting to help someone who was in need was so instinctual that he'd not been able to stop himself. He'd feel bad about it if he came up with some crappy excuse to get out of it.

"I've just finished with work. I'm on my way."

Auden left it at that before ending the call. Whatever was the problem, he didn't foresee it taking very long—he either knew what to do or didn't. He took a right turn at the intersection and began to move in the direction of the largest house in the city—the Briefs' residence. He'd gone there plenty of times before dropping off Aster to know where the place was without needing to consult his GPS. He arrived at the destination in record time.

As always, he parked somewhere off to the side and near the main entrance so that he could make a quick escape if necessary. There was no telling what Bulma had up her sleeves. No sooner had he stepped out of the car, he could see Bulma's approach from afar. The property was obnoxiously large; practically a small city. It was a wonder she knew he was there so quickly. He waited with crossed arms as he leaned against the driver's side door.

"You actually came," Bulma said with some reservation in her tone—Auden was surprised to hear it.

"I said that I would," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I know, it's just—I thought you would bail at the last minute. I'm glad you took my call, I'm glad we got to talk. We don't do that very often, do we?"

"We do it enough."

Bulma laughed at this. "I'm talking about real conversation, face-to-face."

"The occasion never came up."

"Well," she began slowly. "We're here, face-to-face…"

"I thought you had some pressing issue you needed assistance with."

He could tell she was quite perturbed at his response. It began to dawn on him that he likely should have gone with his first gut instincts to completely avoid any of this even if there really was something she wanted him to look at.

"Auden, really? Why do you always have to be like this?"

He looked at her wearily. "I swear I will leave, if you don't just get to the point of whatever it is you feel like you need to tell me. I don't have all day and I don't like staying out late."

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" he asked genuinely confused.

"You remember back in high school? Sophomore year?"

He didn't respond and simply waited for her to continue.

"Geez, you're not giving me much to work off of, you know that?"

"I remember. Continue."

She frowned a little, but then did just this. "I wanted to apologize for pursuing you so relentlessly that time and probably making everything much worse for you. I thought I was helping you—I thought I was teaching you about life, but I was really just naïve and—

"When you insisted on buying me some new eyeglasses, I appreciated that more than I let on at the time."

"But…"

"The ones I had were the wrong prescription and Mom simply didn't have enough to pay for something at least halfway decent. I knew that she couldn't, but I was still upset about it. I could barely see anything at all, and each night was a struggle trying to do the homework or any sort of reading. I would literally have books inches from my face—it was ridiculous and headache inducing. The world was always so blurry until the day we went to that optometrist and everything just opened up for me. Any annoying thing you did afterwards easily became tolerable."

Bulma smiled at this. "I knew you liked them 'cus I never saw those other beat-up pairs again."

"Oh, I threw those away immediately. If I could, I would have thrown them into an incinerator. Mom appreciated it as well, if you wanted to know, but she also told me to be careful and that people didn't just give things out the kindness of their hearts."

"Well, she was right. I wanted something in return. I like to think I'm this benevolent person, but I'm really not. I'm really just selfish and will help people only if it benefits me in some way."

"Everyone is selfish on some level, but I would argue that that isn't such a bad thing. Without some sort of self-preservation mechanism in place, we end up not being helpful to anyone."

"I guess that's true. I always try to be selfless to some degree now—it's harder than I thought. I know I was buying you a lot of things at one point because I sort of pitied you—

"I noticed."

"It was patronizing. It was probably embarrassing, and everyone knew what I was doing."

"Okay," he said simply. "Is this the point you were trying to get to?"

"No," she said with a frown. "Buying you new eyeglasses aside—it still doesn't excuse what I did, pressuring you like that, making it nearly impossible to tell me no. I always felt like I had to fix you in some way. I waited until no one was looking to push you into that corner to start making out with you and then you ran off in terror—I've felt guilty about that ever since. That was basically sexual harassment. I read all the signs wrong and ended up hurting you in the end. I'm sorry."

Auden hadn't thought that she would bring that part up or even see it in that way. These were simply things he kept to himself. No one cared. Normal people aren't traumatized by being pursued or kissed by someone who most people considered beautiful. And Bulma was not only considered beautiful, but intelligent, a social butterfly, rich, and popular. She was heir to one of the most influential corporations in the world. Normal people would call that being lucky.

She seemed genuinely sad about this which caught him by surprise. He didn't understand. He didn't know how to respond.

"Well," she said after a long passing moment. "Do you forgive me?"

"We were friends then, and we still are now."

"Do you forgive me?" she repeated determinedly.

It would be easy to just say the thing that would assuage her apparent anxiety over the incident. Yet he couldn't part his lips to do so. Why was she making such a big deal about this? Why now? "I don't understand why this is so important to you. Why must you always dredge up the past like this?"

"You haven't forgiven me," she stated. "I knew it. I just knew it. How in the world can you call me a friend if you secretly hate me?"

He looked away for a moment before his reply. "Because you helped me when no one else would and there's not a long a list of people I could say that about."

She was in no way pacified by this answer. He could tell from her sour expression. He already wanted to simply leave, problem or no. He had no idea the "right" thing he should say in this situation and he wanted to avoid outright lying and hurting her feelings.

"You saved me—is that what you wanted to hear? I'm indebted to you. I've done nothing to repay you."

"But you still secretly hate me and that's why you've been avoiding me like the plague. That's why you won't ever come in whenever I ask. You won't join us for dinner. You just pretend that it's totally normal to do that when your daughter spends so much time here."

"Maybe," he said in realization. He wanted to keep his distance from her—as much distance as possible. It wasn't as if he'd forgotten about those things that had occurred in high school, but he didn't like thinking of Bulma that way. It wasn't something he was all that fond of sorting through and everything was much simpler when things were left in the air, narratives disconnected from reality.

"That's why I thought we should talk about it."

"We're talking about it," he said flatly.

"You know what I mean. So now it's your turn. What do you think? About any of it?"

"Bulma, seriously? Right now?"

"Then when? Never? Now that we've identified the elephant in the room. I see no reason to not address it. We're both adults here—older, wiser perhaps. Maybe we can stop playing hide-n-seek."

His eyes closed wearily at this. If he could melt into a puddle and slide away, that would be perfect. She wanted to do this now. He could leave her hanging, but it would leave things even more awkward than it already was between them.

"Are you okay, Auden?" she asked.

Her voice sounded so pitying. She desperately wanted to be let off the hook about events that happened ages ago. He was trying to find a way to convince himself to do it. Logically, it made sense that he should. Suddenly though, just for this day, his emotions were eroding his generally rational decision-making. Could it be that she was confronting him and still held great sway over him? Did it feel like she was manipulating him to say something to make her feel better? Why did it matter, if that was the case? That was simply Bulma's way: Bulma gets what Bulma wants.

"You're just going to keep your thoughts to yourself, then?" she prodded. "Just say something. Anything at all."

He was looking at her again, eyebrows slightly furrowed. He could say something, if that's all she wanted, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to say something nice. "I hated everything about high school aside from the learning part. I tried my best to sidestep all the drama that came with it, but then you came to destroy any notion of remaining largely unnoticed. When you come to school with ratty, holey clothes, you're at the bottom of the totem pole. Everyone makes fun of you, but no one cares. I didn't care as long as I could ignore them. When the most popular girl in school randomly takes an interest in you and makes you her little project, then everyone hates you. All of her exes hate you. I liked you to a certain degree, but then every encounter had to turn into some romantic opportunity until you felt some foreign need to take it to the next step. At the time, we were still on good terms and no one liked that. Then after sophomore year, you disappeared. Meanwhile, the rest of high school was a train wreck for me. That's all I care to say about it."

For some reason, she was smiling. "See? Didn't that feel nice. That's all I wanted. Just be honest with me. I mean, I feel even shittier, but still. I'd gotten accepted into university, by the way—that's why I left."

"How nice."

"I bet you could have done the same thing with the kind of grades you had."

"Maybe, if I'd kept them up. That wasn't the case."

"Really?" she asked in realization. "I'm so sorry—your grades were always so perfect until—

"It's not your fault," he interrupted. "It was up to me to keep them up and I failed as I always do."

"Auden…"

"I've never been all that great dealing with stress. Some days are better than others. Sometimes, I wonder why I try at all, but usually I'm pretty optimistic. At least, these days."

Bulma was quiet for a moment. "That's more than you've ever shared with me before. Guess I still can't convince you to join us for dinner, can I?"

"I'm starting to think you really didn't have an issue that you wanted me to look at and that it was all a hoax to talk me to death. Are we ever getting to that or not? I do still have work tomorrow."

"Ugh, alright, Auden. That's enough prodding for today, I guess. I'm just relieved to actually know where I stand with you."

"I still owe you so I will help you whenever you need me."

Bulma grinned though with a note of despondency and shook her head. "Follow me then."

Finally, they were moving away from the car, but Auden suspected that there was a ways to go before they reached the building she was currently working in.

"I normally would try to do things like this in my basement lab, but I needed far more sophisticated computing. Basically, I've been developing a program that can locate a specific planet in the universe. I know enough about the planet to narrow down the parameters, but the universe is unfathomably huge and at this point, just purely searching would take many lifetimes to finish and that's if New Namek is within the observable universe. There's also a few kinks in the program that's screwing up its searching capabilities. I really feel like I haven't gotten anywhere."

"First off," Auden began walking beside her now. "Are you completely certain that this planet 'New Namek' exists?"

Bulma looked at him wearily. "Of course. Why would I waste my time on a fairytale?"

"Because you're bored."

"It's not like that. This is serious."

"So you've told me. This sounds like the sort of computing that NASA would already be well-versed in. Maybe someone who works for them would have better insight."

"Oh, I've already consulted them on this. They even lent me the framework for what I'm using now."

"Well, of course. CC has its hands in everything."

She gave him a cheeky grin. "I didn't have to start from scratch. They were a huge help, but I can't let them in on everything. If the government caught wind of an actual, live alien civilization, all hell would break loose."

"But it's okay to let me know about this."

"I trust you. Anyways, I'm stumped; I need you to look at it. The program is barely working at all."

"I don't see how much help I'd be, but, sure I'll take a look. This still sounds like a 'Bulma is bored' project. Is there some reason you're keeping this hidden from the proper channels? Is this another instance of CC controlling the flow of information to the general public?"

"I didn't peg you for a conspiracy theorist, Auden. Just trust me. It's important that people don't know about this."

"It's not a conspiracy, Bulma, it's a fact. I work for you. I should know. All this secrecy just to innocently find some planet that may or may not be feasible in finding in the first place."

"If you must know, New Namek has dragon balls which means it has the ability to summon a dragon which can grant us any wish we want."

"Ah, yes, the dragon balls. It always comes back to that for you, doesn't it? You want to resurrect the late popstar and completely defy the laws of physics."

"His name is Malachi and, yes, my goal is to wish him back. But first, we have to find the needle in the haystack. I just need a fresh set of eyes. I've been staring at the same code for too long."

"Why don't you just take a break then? Look away for a couple days and then come back," he suggested.

"I can't afford to. I need to get this done as soon as possible. I need someone like you—someone of equal skill to see what I can't see. Everyone's been depending on me to figure everything out and this just seems a little beyond me. I'm dabbling in subjects that aren't even my strong suits. Physics? Hardware? Mechanical Engineering? That has my name all over it. Software? Programming? Not so much."

He wondered about her assessment of him being of "equal skill", but he didn't protest. She seemed at her wit's end with this. He probably should have been gearing up for the moment he utterly disappointed her. Yet the part about looking over the coding didn't seem too intimidating. Everything else was up in the air. He would still file this under "Bulma is bored" with a little bit of "Bulma is desperate" sprinkled in. The idea that there existed these mystical objects which could grant wishes if only one could collect them sounded more than just farfetched but completely made-up as well. Yet he couldn't deny that Bulma was convinced of them. That simply didn't add up to what he knew about her. He could believe that a human had lost their mind sooner than dragon balls being real. It didn't matter either way. People of her caliber and worth could afford to be airheaded. He would do what he can and then go. This visit was already taking entirely too long.

They arrived at another capsule building that was only a little smaller than the main house. Inside, Auden was presented with a mess of papers, tools, wires, and other mechanical paraphernalia. How could anyone work in such clutter? He sighed inwardly as they stepped over objects on the floor.

"Here we are—my home for the last couple months."

Auden eyed a spilled cup of coffee on one of the workbenches with a still drying puddle of brown liquid on the floor—he unconsciously grimaced at the carelessness. She brought him over to the large computer that took up a significant chunk of the wall. The sheer size of it left him awestruck as his eyes finally took it in. The amount of computing power this device had was probably unlike anything that was out on the market even for businesses. He could do a lot of damage with this especially if it was web-enabled.

"I knew you'd like it. This baby took me quite a bit of time to put together, but I need this for what I have instore. Here—" She pulled back the only chair at the massive supercomputer wiping away all the papers and writing utensils that ended up on the seat. She also brushed away the crumbs on the keyboard before presenting the seat to him—"It's all yours."

Partially disgusted but more curious, he sat down cautiously. Noticing more stray crumbs however, he wiped these away as well.

"Oh, c'mon, Mr. Prim and Proper. Sorry for the mess. I had to eat and I didn't want to stay away too long."

"Right," he said with pursed lips. "Just show me what you have so far."

There was a stationary mousepad which her hand hovered over to click through files before she got to the source code. Just like the computer, it was massive. She quickly scrolled through pages and pages of code. His eyes skimmed these over in the meantime. By the time she got to the last portion of it, he was wearing an obvious frown.

"Alright, Auden, do you see something wrong already?"

"Just like this place, this program looks like a mess. It's atrocious. No wonder you can't see the forest through the trees. Where are your variable names? Why are there unnecessary spaces? Why haven't you spelled out each module's function?"

"That's elementary, Auden. I know what each variable is doing. I know what each piece of the code is doing. Just ask me and I'll explain." She seemed amused with his reaction to seeing the script.

"No. This is unacceptable."

"Auden—

"I'm going to have to reconstruct this entire program."

She snorted. "I didn't ask you to completely rewrite my program."

"I wasn't asking for permission. If you want me to be of any use, then your program will be restructured so that a sane person can understand."

"Oh, and you're sane?"

"When it comes to coding, apparently, I am."

He'd already scrolled back to the top, trying to figure out what was even happening there. From there, he began questioning her on every inch of the program until he knew enough to translate it to what was on the screen. Her frustration only made him bolder. Clearly, she was desperate because at no point did she tell him to leave. For all her sucking of teeth and exasperated sighs, she answered his questions for the next half hour. It was all starting to make sense in startling clarity. Bulma was beginning to see the minute changes he was doing to what was already there.

"Oh, I see…" she'd said at least three times now. Or she'd proclaim "Brilliant!" when he wrote out an additional module to assist with another or reworked one of her nested loops into something much simpler. It was nice hearing her ringing endorsements. He could feel her anxiousness slowly easing off as he combed through what was there, eliminating each issue she pointed out in the programming. He didn't think he was doing anything too incredible, but Bulma seemed to think so. Maybe she'd simply been too burnt out to do what he was doing at this point.

Hours slipped by as they delved further into the details. He hadn't realized what time it was until he happened to glance at the time on the corner of the screen. It was nearing midnight. Without windows, time had become nearly irrelevant. The day had become entirely too late and he was completely off schedule. This was not the quick visit that he had envisioned. Worse than that, he'd forgotten to take his pills which he hadn't bothered taking with him. He was always at home by this time. He hadn't stayed out this late since…Well, he couldn't remember if he'd ever done anything like that before.

"Aster is going to kill me," he said before Bulma could draw him to another issue with the programming.

"What?" she asked caught off guard. "What's wrong?"

"My medicine. It's at my place."

"Oh," she said, not thinking much of it. But then realization set in. "Oh," she said in a different tone. "Are you okay to drive back for them? Maybe we could continue."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to drive now."

"Then stay here. I have so many rooms around here."

"I can't stay. Could you do me a favor? I don't live that far away—

"Say no more," she said following his train of thought. "Just stay here, okay? I'll be back in a jiffy. Text me everything I need to know. I didn't mean to throw you off your schedule. I should have told you this would take a long time. With your help though, I'm even closer than ever to finishing this once and for all."

"Well, I'm glad to help even if I'm not so sure on the success you'll have with all of this."

"Don't worry. It'll work. We'll find the dragon balls."

Auden watched as she expertly made her way over the treacherous floor to the door on the other side of the room. He was left alone with his own thoughts. It certainly wasn't the first time this was the case, but it had been awhile since he wasn't in the grips of the controlling properties of his usual drugs. He turned his attention back to the source code and he continued to manipulate the structure.

He found his fingers tapping away at the keyboard at first at a normal speed. As minutes began to roll by, his fingers moved faster and faster, his eyes sweeping through the code finding more and more errors.

"This is such clumsy form, Bulma," he said to himself. "The execution…so beneath you….Don't worry. I know what you meant to do…"

He remembered thinking just how massive and intricate the source code was. Now he was wondering why it was so short. He looked through everything a few more times changing, correcting, rewriting, reworking, adding, and taking away as he saw fit until he couldn't find anything else—a fact that became utterly frustrating. Was he actually done? Hadn't there been so much more to work on? He glanced at the time again—only ten minutes had passed. Bulma likely hadn't even made it to his place yet.

There was no place to rest his head, so he moved over to a workbench where a stool sat. The space on the bench was completely cluttered with objects he couldn't even begin to put a name to, but he did see a number of tools. He pushed some things aside causing some metal trinkets to hit the ground so that he could lay his head down somewhere. He knew paranoia would set in; he was already getting anxious. Time seemed to be crawling at a snail's pace. What could he distract himself with in the meantime? He couldn't think of anything at the moment. Instead, his mind kept visualizing the code musing over every line wondering if there was something more he could do.

Just then, he heard something solid hit the table beside him and he nearly fell off the stool as he looked up with a fearful jolt. It was a tall, cold glass of yellow substance, but what had caught his eyes was the spikey haired man that now stood in front of him. Auden hadn't even heard him enter. Was he even real? How could anyone avoid making noise on this floor?

"So you're the guy Bulma said she was consulting," he said roughly.

"Ah, y-yes." He didn't have the presence of mind to ask who he was, but it was obvious that he knew Bulma at least.

"You're finished with that?"

"With the program?"

"Whatever you guys are working on."

"Well, I can't find anything else to adjust so…"

"Good. That woman hasn't left this place for more than a few minutes. It's a little worrisome. I know how important this is to Bra, but it was getting a little out of hand. This is a glass of lemonade, by the way. Bunny made it for you."

"A bunny?" he asked confused.

"No, you idiot, that's just her nickname."

"Oh," Auden said as he turned to the glass that now looked quite refreshing knowing what it actually was. There was even a straw along with a parasol cocktail pick leaning to the side. He hadn't consumed anything since lunch and his mouth was long since parched. When he took a sip, his mouth was immediately bombarded with the tingly sensation of fresh lemon. Whoever Bunny was had worked hard on this particular drink. It was dizzying. "Perfect…"

"I guess you like it then."

Auden didn't bother looking back at him as he took a much longer swig of it.

"Anyways, since you're done, mind looking at something else for me?"

This piqued his interest immediately. Something to distract himself with. "I'm not sure I can help, but I'll try my best."

The spiky haired man made his way over to an overflowing bin in the corner and Auden followed him. Conical, spherical, and even rectangular prism bots filled the bin. They seemed turned off and relatively new.

"These are those training bots Bulma said she'd get to eventually, one day. She's been busy though, so I haven't really pushed her on the issue. I don't know if she's actually done with them—can you just take a look and see if there's anything that still needs to be done?"

Auden had already pulled out his phone and began accessing the A.I. software. "What kind of training are they used for?"

"Let's say, martial arts. I have an idea for all the students at the dojo, but I've kind of been sitting on this for weeks now."

Auden's eyes were running through the functionality. Then, seeing the changes he could be making to optimize the technology, he made his way back to the main computer to display it on the screen so that he could easily type on the keyboard. The stranger who'd asked him to do it was now more of an afterthought as his focus became exclusively on the coding.

"There," Auden said after what felt like ten minutes, but when he looked, he realized that only a minute had passed. "It should be ready for use."

The man was looking at him strangely with a raised eyebrow and Auden wondered if he'd missed something.

"I'll just have to take your word for it, then." The man looked from the screen to him again. "I'm sure if Bulma asked for your help—you know what you're doing."

"It was child's play," Auden said returning to his phone. "It had Bulma's fingerprints all over it. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to learn that I've changed a few things about it. You'll appreciate the results, if you're using it for martial arts."

When he heard the heavy bin of bots being moved, he looked back with surprise. Clearly, the man was no stranger to the gym. He easily carried everything out without saying another word. Shaking his head in amazement, he returned to the workbench and laid his head down again.

"Are you alright?" came the now familiar gruff voice of the man.

He'd entered once again without Auden noticing. "I'm fine."

"Bulma has plenty of guest rooms. You're not trapped in here."

"I'm fine," he repeated.

Auden could still feel his presence nearby and he wondered if the man might say something more.

"Suit yourself then," he said finally before leaving him alone.

Auden started to count to himself breathing slowly in and out. The anxiousness was becoming far more intense. He finished the cold beverage quickly before returning to his position. "…Why the hell did I come here…? Aster will probably be so upset right now…This is so stupid." He looked up to see that twenty minutes had finally passed. Perhaps Bulma was on her way back. "Please…"

But what did it matter that she came back at all? Did anything really matter? Why was he so anxious? Was it really so important to continue to do this over and over again? What it really so important to show up at work again to continue being the insignificant cog in the machine he was always destined to be? He closed his eyes in exhaustion. He had no idea the amount of time that had passed before Bulma was shaking him to wakefulness. Her touch was startling to say the least, but it had been brief.

"I found the pill box with everything parsed all out just like you said," she said. She'd placed it on the table before him, "And I got a bottle of water for you. Man, that's a lot of pills. Do you really have to take all of them?"

"That's what I've been prescribed," he replied drearily.

"Oh, it's alright, Auden. It's a small price to pay. Now c'mon, take them already—maybe we could get a bit more done tonight."

Auden looked at the pill box with disdain. There were quite a few in there with multiple colors. For some reason, he couldn't even motivate himself to pick the box up. "What's the point, anyway?" he said wearily.

"Auden—

"I'm no use to anyone whether I take them or not."

"I need you right now—doesn't that count for something?" she reminded him with hands on her hips. "And Aster too. Where is all this coming from?"

"Why continue pretending that any of this is worth struggling to maintain?"

"What do you want me to say?" Bulma asked now becoming desperate. "Please, just take them for me, alright? Take them because I want you to. Could you do that for me?"

Auden's eyes which had been trained on the pill box glanced over at her and then nodded. He flipped open the appropriate section of the box and poured the multitude of pills into his hand. There were so many of them, all of them with names he could barely pronounce. It felt so futile and tedious. What was so wrong about ending it all? Why was it so pertinent that he continue and fail, continue and fail, in an unending loop of events?

"Please," Bulma said interrupting his thoughts.

He'd almost forgotten that she was there watching his actions. Slowly, he bit the bullet once again just like every other time he forced himself to down the sheer magnitude of pills that supposedly made him feel better. It was done in a few moments at which point he simply returned to his previous position.

"Auden, I can't let you drive back in this condition. Why don't you just stay here for now?"

He didn't respond. He didn't feel like responding.

"Auden?"

Her voice sounded so concerned. Why? Her little project must have been extremely important to her. It was the only reason.

"Are you even listening to me anymore?"

By the time he looked where he supposed her voice was coming, he realized that he wasn't in the same place. He was somewhere else completely unfamiliar. No, he wasn't back at home. He couldn't hear the familiar whirring of electrical devices and he didn't see depressing clutter on every possible surface. This was cleaner; the air was cleaner.

"Bulma?" he asked confused.

He was sitting on a bed and she was standing right in front of him. At the moment, she looked relieved.

"You're back."

"From…where?"

"I don't know—you tell me. You just stopped responding to me and I just kind of led you here. It was like—well, it was kind of like before at the institution…"

He couldn't recall how he'd gotten to this room and he likely never would. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Please don't tell Aster—

"It's okay. This is just between you and me, but I'm not going to let you leave like this. Just wait until you're normal again."

"What do you mean, 'normal'? This is me. This is who I really am."

"Auden…"

"Normal is abnormal for me which is why I depend so heavily on drugs just so I can function properly."

"That's alright; it's nothing to be ashamed of. Every person is different, people require different things to cope with life in general."

"I'm sure they do," he said drily.

He didn't actually feel like arguing with her. If there was one thing he knew about her, it was that she was hardheaded and didn't listen well. It was a fruitless task trying to fully explain himself. It would probably be too dreary for someone so hopeful. Her expression had become weary.

"I'll be back in a little while to check in on you, okay?"

He was a little frustrated with her babying, but he gave her a brief nod. He felt as if he was on watch and it felt too similar to being in a hospital. Maybe he should still be there.

"Please keep the lights on," he said as she turned towards the door.

Auden watched as she reached for the light switch, but at the last minute left it alone and then closed the door on her way out.

* * *

Bulma walked a little ways down the hall back to the main area of the building.

"Well…so much for getting a little extra help. I swear, at the first sign of trouble…" she muttered to herself as she made her way to the mainframe.

"I heard talking to yourself was the first sign of insanity," Vegeta said from somewhere behind her.

She used to jump every time he seemed to come out of nowhere, but now she was used to it and just assumed that he was likely always somewhere nearby or could probably hear everything that she was saying.

"If that were the case, then we'd both be in the funny house by now," she said dismissively. "I just really hoped he could shed some light on some of this and…"

She paused as she started to look at the code. It looked unrecognizable from what they had been working on. She could find little of her own work left. Effectively, he'd rewritten the entire thing…and it was brilliant. A confused and surprised look graced her face as she parsed through it all. It was so simplistic, so easy to follow.

"I was watching him work on that," Vegeta said, "and I don't think I've ever seen anyone write out code as quickly as that. Either he knew what he was doing or it was just plain gibberish."

"It's not gibberish. He did it. This will do it. Within a year, if New Namek is out there and my parameters are correct, this program will find it."

"Wait, are you serious?" Vegeta asked. "This thing you've been working on for months now that's been completely rewritten, works better than what you first predicted was even possible?"

"Yes to all of that," Bulma said with a wide smile.

She hardly knew how to react. It was mindboggling. She ran over to Vegeta and kissed him directly on the lips before immediately working on the next phase of the project—building the device that could possibly do what the program was instructing. She was already at the workbench looking around for the proper tools.

"Vegeta, we're in the homestretch now!"

"Well, do you need anything from me?" he asked pretending to keep his cool.

She knew he was just as invested as she was in this. He'd visited the lab more often than he ever had in the past and he'd encourage her in his own way, bringing food when she forgot to eat for too long, reminding her that there was no rush, and not mentioning the fact that she spent so much time away from everyone these days. There were a few bedrooms in the building that she'd been occupying so that she could be closer to her work. On some nights, he'd joined her, but he knew that she preferred to be in her own element alone, so he didn't overstay his welcome.

"I'll let you know if I do. This is just incredible. I never imagined…I swear to god, I can't just have Auden wasting his talents in some lowly tech support position. He could be inventing things, optimizing things, actually make some sort impact on the world. Then maybe he wouldn't be so down on himself all the time."

"He actually likes working for you?" Vegeta said with a snort.

"Oh, shut-up, I'm not so bad and I pay well."

Vegeta only responded with a 'hmph' before disappearing out the exit. She was hardly paying him any attention anyway as she began in earnest on her contraption. Hours passed having finished less than a fourth of what she had in mind. Not to mention, she still needed to buy some special material for her new planetary radar.

She paused in her work to finally go check in on Auden. It was a little late and she hadn't meant to keep him so long. He mentioned he had work the next day, but it was a moot point considering who she was and she certainly wouldn't allow him to be fired so easily. When she opened the door to the room, she noticed the lights were still on and that he hadn't seen fit to use the bed he'd been sitting on. She was hoping he'd reconsider just staying for a few days, if need be. It took her a moment to realize that Auden was there sitting on the ground in the very corner with knees pulled very tightly against his chest and shivering as if he was freezing cold. He didn't seem well in the slightest and it immediately dampened her mood. All this because he'd missed one round of medication? She approached him cautiously and decided to get down on her knees. He wasn't asleep. Instead he was staring forlornly at the nearby wall as if in a daze. _Oh, no…Please still be responsive…_

"Auden, sweetie—

He turned to look at her and that relieved her to some degree, but the pain and sadness etched so visibly on his face took her by surprise. She couldn't understand it. Why was he still like this? Didn't the pills counteract that sort of thing?

"You're back," he said with some strain to his tone.

"What's wrong? What can I do to help?"

"You wouldn't understand. I don't want to talk about it."

"But that's all we can do. You took your medicine and you're still like this. I just don't know anymore."

"I don't either," he said despondently as he returned his gaze to the plain wall. "I do know that it's all been impossible. It's always been impossible."

"What's impossible?"

"Everything. Everything that's worth anything at all. Just impossible."

She wasn't entirely sure he was coherent, but she went along with this train of thought. "Perhaps some things are impossible, but most things are within our grasps."

"How can you say that with so much confidence?"

"Because…" she thought for a moment, but she couldn't come up with anything particularly enlightening to say. "I just know, Auden. That's how it works. You can't just think something is impossible. If you never try to reach for it, then it will always be, won't it?"

He'd turned back to her as she spoke, but now his expression darkened. "Just platitudes. Just lies we tell ourselves trying to convince ourselves that life has some sort of meaning. No one wants to admit how futile struggling is. It isn't pleasant, too uncomfortable."

"Listen, I honestly don't know what you're getting at, but I feel like I'm going around in a circle with you. Help me understand, Auden. I want to understand what it is that's going through your head right now."

She noticed that tears had begun rolling down his face. He was a mess. He parted his lips to say something, but he didn't manage to say anything even as she waited patiently. Then, she had a sneaking suspicion of what this might be about and the air grew colder between them.

"It's about that incident…back in college," she began carefully. "What those women did to you. You were never like this before. This isn't how I remembered you. You had so many goals. You had it all so planned out and you believed that you could actually do all the things you set out to do. I never told you this, but I was jealous at the time because I had no idea just what I wanted for my life. But now…Seeing you like this—it's painful for me."

More tears slid silently down his face, but he finally spoke. "I was silly and naïve back then. I know better now."

She was watching him give up right now and it angered her more than anything. After the success with the program, how could he be like this? Why was he sucking the joy out of his own achievement? Why was he twisting everything into something dark and depressing? She slapped a hand hard on the ground which did little more than startle him much to her irritation. He stared at her wide-eyed with fear.

"Will you just—" She had to calm herself before she continued. "You're not powerless anymore. No one is stopping you from doing what you've always wanted to do. You don't need to be like this anymore."

His eyebrows furrowed at her. Good. It was better that he was angry. It was better than what this was now.

"I am powerless. I've always been. It never changes. Always at the mercy of others and their whims, to those women, to my own sense of decency, to you."

She felt a sudden pang of guilt and she hated it. How long would he hold that over her head? "Are you putting me in the same category as those monsters?"

"I'm always at your mercy."

"You can trust me. You know that, right? I won't ever try to hurt you."

"I know."

Yet his eyes looked haunted and it was beginning to scare her. "Are you going to come out of the corner? You can't stay like this. I thought you said you didn't want to stay here." He just kept looking at her. She had no idea what he wanted from her. "At some point, Auden, you have to do something. You have to accept things as they are and move on. It's been so long since 'it' happened…"

He seemed to consider her words, but he made no movements to try and stand up. In the face of his apparent hopelessness it felt silly trying to encourage him, but that was all she could do.

"The terror I felt that night has never left me. It feels as if I'm trapped there. I don't think I'll ever be able to 'move on' as you mentioned so casually. It never feels like it happened long ago. It's always as if it happened just moments before and it always feels like it can happen again at any time."

Bulma barely managed to hold his now searing gaze. "I had no idea…"

She jumped when she heard frantic knocks on the door.

"Dad, are you in there!? You better not be in there this late!" came Aster's irate, but muffled voice behind the door.

She looked back at Auden who was also now looking at the door. He seemed to have snapped out of whatever she'd been witnessing before, he appeared more present. "Should I tell her to go away?"

He shook his head no. "It's fine. She's just worried."

"Alright," Bulma said as she climbed to her feet and made her way to the door.

"Hey!" Aster's voice shouted, "Answer me!"

"I'm coming! Hold on. Geez!" Bulma called back. She'd never seen Aster quite so demanding before. It reminded her of her own daughter.

Bulma eventually opened the door to a very upset looking Aster who instinctively had her little arms crossed; she quickly brushed passed her. By that time, Auden was already standing much to her surprise, but his eyes were red-rimmed and his clothes ruffled. If he was trying to not alarm her, he was already doing a poor job of it.

"You've been crying," Aster accused the other. "I'm taking you home, right now. I'm driving. I don't want to hear anything from you."

"Aster…"

"Dad," she said warningly.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but then, at the last minute, decided not to. It was strange and at the same time a little sad considering how little he pushed back against her brazen behavior. Bulma wondered if she should say something.

"Listen, Aster," Bulma began. Aster's heated gaze turned to her, but Bulma was no pushover. "I asked your father to assist me and he did. He singlehandedly figured out something that I've been stuck on for months now and that is a very important project to me. We got a little carried away and time got away from us. I gave him his medication. He should be fine. There's nothing to be upset about, okay? And I've said this a million times, but he can stay here, if he wants. You don't get to decide that for him. I know you're concerned, but I can't just stand by and let you disrespect him like this."

Aster frowned at her. Bulma noticed that Auden hadn't taken his eyes off of Aster since she stepped into the room.

"You got what you wanted from him. We're going home," Aster said in a somewhat calm, but obviously filled with sizzling anger tone. She didn't even bother asking if Auden agreed or not.

Bulma looked at him trying to get his attention until finally she just addressed him. "Auden, I don't know what the hell this is, but it's not healthy."

"She knows perfectly well how to drive," he said glancing at her. "It's fine."

"It's not fine," Bulma said.

"You're standing in the way," Aster said matter-of-factly. She seemed so reassured now since she knew she was getting her way.

Though Bulma didn't like it one bit, she decided there was little else she could do—she stepped aside and allowed them to leave with Aster, of course, taking the lead.

"Auden," Bulma said quickly when he was passing her on his way out. Thankfully, he acknowledged her. "What the hell?"

"It's getting late," he said wearily. "If you need me, you can always call. Sorry for all the trouble."

She wanted to say that it was no trouble at all, but she knew it would be a lie and she knew that he knew that it would be a lie. "Alright…" she said finally as she watched him leave.

They went out a side entrance. Bulma couldn't help but think that this entire day had ended in shambles. She felt like she needed to do something, but she couldn't think of anything. Auden was not okay. She knew that for certain. She'd already known that. Today had just made it much more crystal clear. Unlike every other issue in her life, however, there was no new contraption or invention that could fix the problem.

She couldn't help but feel relieved that there was now a path to victory as far as finding New Namek. In a matter of months, the planetary radar would be able to pinpoint the location and give her coordinates. The rest was easy. CC had plenty of spaceships to choose from. Just like that, her worry was replaced with the feelings of success. It was such an easy transition of emotions. Imagining an instance in which that wasn't true…it seemed unfathomable. She had no idea what it might feel like to be trapped forever in spiraling, darkening thoughts and always pretending as if that wasn't the case. Whenever she was upset or sad or angry, she'd step away from whatever was causing her to feel that way and then later, sometimes without having to do anything significant at all, she was just able to cope. She just moved on to the next thing. It wasn't something she necessarily controlled, she realized. This was why it had felt a little futile if not belittling when all she could suggest was that he 'moved on'. Her ability to do so was something built in, undamaged, and always working behind the scenes. She really had no useful advice for someone like Auden and that troubled her.


	7. A Day Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auden takes some much needed time for himself and he receives a call from someone unexpected.

Auden laid sprawled in his bed unwilling to climb out of it for the day. He was tired and nothing that he had planned that day held any interest. He wasn't particularly upset or sad about anything, but the idea of sleeping in sounded extremely tempting. It likely had something to do with the fact that he'd gotten home in the early hours of the morning.

Precisely at 8 in the morning, he heard a knock on the door. He knew it was Aster coming to remind him to take his medication. While he hated raising his voice, it was better than actually getting up to open the door or better yet, Aster strolling in as she usually did.

"Dad? Are you awake yet?"

"I already took them. Don't worry," he called to her wearily.

"Are you sure?" she asked loudly.

"I'm pretty sure," he said back amused.

"Okay, you better not be lying!"

He didn't bother dignifying this with an answer, but he hadn't taken his pills yet. He was about to do it anyway. There was always some stale bottle of water nearby on the dresser and his pills were tucked away in the drawer. With a groan, he rolled over to his side and quickly got the whole thing over with. From there, he didn't want to do anything else other than relax. He allowed his eyes to close as he took in the minute sounds around him.

It would probably be a good idea to let one of his supervisors know that he wouldn't be in today. He waited another half hour to do so which was still before he usually came in. He would give himself two days to recover from what had occurred yesterday.

A little while later, he heard the tiny footsteps of Aster approaching the door. He had no idea what her plans generally were in the middle of the week, but he assumed she didn't spend much time in the apartment. Today was different, he supposed.

"Dad?" came her questioning voice again through the door—this time her tone was softer.

He heard the door to his room creak open. "Yes, honey," he answered wearily.

"You're skipping work today?" she asked concerned. "Are you okay?" She slipped into the room and made her way in until she was standing before him.

"I'm fine."

"You say that a lot even when you're not," she accused him softly.

Her voice sounded so sad, but he was no good at cheering people up. "I don't like it when people worry over me."

"It's just me, Dad. I'm the only one who worries about you." She was quiet for a few moments before continuing. "Why do you just…give up sometimes? Why do I keep having to remind you about things you already know to do?"

"It's always a struggle, Aster, you know that. I don't always make the right choices."

"You hate taking your pills, don't you?"

"It's so tedious," he answered wearily.

"Is that all it is? Just tedious? This is your life we're talking about."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry. I'll try not to do that again. I should be more vigilant."

"Promise me you won't do that again."

"I can't promise that."

"Dad!" Her voice raised a little, but she took a deep breath trying to remain civil. "Please give me something, then. Something more than just 'try'."

"That's all I can give you," he answered heavily. His eyes were still closed.

She stood there in silence likely just watching him, debating with herself what she should say next. "Should I stay with you today? I don't think you should be alone."

He sighed at this. He didn't exactly want her hovering over him all day. "I promise you, Aster, for today, I'll be on my best behavior—but I would like to spend some time to myself."

"You really promise?"

"Yes."

"Really, _really_ promise?"

"How old are you again? Geez."

Aster tsked. "I'm just making sure. I'll give you some space today, but I'll be checking up on you, okay? Please answer your phone."

"I'll do my best."

She didn't leave immediately, but he didn't care either way. Not going into work today was relieving enough.

"Dad, is that therapist really working for you?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"But what about yesterday? I know it's important to stay on track, but why does it always go to shit whenever you miss one?"

"I wasn't so great yesterday. I screwed up. But I know what I did wrong. And…she knows now."

"Bulma? What does she know?"

"Something I should have told her about ages ago. Nothing for you to worry about though."

"Doesn't your therapist say to talk about things to people? Well, you can tell me anything."

"She says something to that extent, but that's not the same as putting everyone's personal information out there and especially not to nosy, little girls."

"Dad! I'm just trying to be helpful."

"I understand. It would be nice to self-reflect today, if a certain someone wasn't distracting me from that all day."

"Okay, I got your message loud and clear," she said with a sigh.

"Thank you."

"Any plans today?"

"Not really. I might try to make dinner tonight, but no promises."

"Well, make enough for three. I'm gonna' bring Jensen over."

"Jensen? And you weren't even going to ask your poor Dad if that was okay?"

"Is it okay?"

If his eyes were open, he would have rolled them, but he was far too relaxed to really get up in arms. In general, he rarely became upset over Aster and he never felt a need to. "Of course," he answered wearily. It was probably for the best as he'd never once met Jensen before. They were both glossing over this fact and Auden did not feel like pointing it out.

"Alright, well, I'll keep in touch," she said as she made a quick retreat out of the room.

A small grin came to his face. She was trying to escape before she was grilled with more questions. So be it. For as long as he'd known her, he was never made aware of anyone she was dating. In fact, he was fairly certain that she had a nonexistent love life. He'd say the same about himself or at the very least, it was difficult dating anyone with Aster always there to discourage him every step of the way. She seemed to still think he was somehow dating Pan. It wasn't even the 'dating' part she had an issue with, but the idea that he would even have a relationship with anyone outside of her. Aster was distrusting of people in general. She'd always seen the world that way from the moment he'd adopted her and he'd not changed her opinion. If anything, he was beginning to see where she was coming from.

For some reason, she hadn't closed the door on her way out—he could clearly hear when the front door closed indicating her departure for the day. Aside from making dinner, he truly had no plans and that was all for the better. He turned to lay on his back.

He wasn't sure if he'd actually helped Bulma in her endeavor yesterday, but he could remember vividly the code he'd written. It should work in its present form barring any unforeseen circumstances. He was satisfied with what he'd produced and there was nothing more he could think to change or optimize. It would be nice to receive some sort of confirmation, but he dreaded the thought of actively calling her. Maybe later.

He thought of some lingering chores that still needed to be done around the house, new places that had opened up in town that he was curious about, and how nice the weather was these days and how much he enjoyed this time of year. Rarely, did he have to deal with allergies and he felt sorry for those who did. He felt even more sorry for those who worked at jobs demanding that employees still come in while sick or else be fired. Of course, this was never put into written words, but he was well aware of jobs that fired employees simply because they missed too many days of work sick or not. It was disgusting to ponder over. Humans were nothing more than a commodity to be worked as hard as possible to make the most profit for their respective companies. Such things as salaries or wages were considered liabilities for any business—the less liability, the more profit. Before being given a job at CC, these dynamics were more obvious. The wealthiest people in the world did not work as hard as those who worked over 40 hours a week on multiple jobs, yet people equate wealth with hard work. It is somehow normal to think that a person could actually be worth billions of dollars, that a billionaire is in fact not leeching money off the backs of the thousands of other workers under them and are somehow considered 'self-made'. The idea that one could profit off of someone else's work was the very definition of leeching and underpaying—there would be no profit otherwise if that wasn't the case and the entire system, at least as it was now, would fall apart. Abuse was built into the foundations of the economic system they were under. But these were societal problems he was in no position to change. He couldn't even take care of his own problems.

Maybe that was a bit harsh, but he did still depend on medication—a lot of it—to maintain mental stability. There had to be a better way. Well, perhaps there didn't have to be a better way, but it was nice to envision that that method existed somewhere. It all depended on him, at the end of the day, and that was the main issue. It was based on how he responded to medication. It was based on how engaged he was in the therapy and how much he trusted the therapist. It was based on his own self-confidence of which he had very little. He was fairly certain that this was the case. Of course, having a job, keeping it, and getting the impression that his employees appreciated him was helpful. His therapist had long since pointed that out and reminded him of it. That was a demonstrable strength he could take credit for among other things. He wondered why he wasn't so impressed with this. Anyone could be a decent supervisor. Sure, he'd known and experienced supervisors who weren't that way, but that didn't mean that such a job was difficult. And he wasn't entirely sure if he was still employed purely based off his performance. He was aware that his 'friendship' with Bulma must have some effect. To be honest, that friendship was completely based on the fact that she'd helped him and nothing more. He knew he'd feel much worse about himself if he made no attempt at repaying her and cut ties with her. But at what point could he say that he'd actually repaid her? It was completely subjective.

He wondered about Chi-Chi for the first time since meeting her. She was someone he kept in the back of his mind waiting for a quiet moment like this to ponder over all the qualities about her that he'd managed to notice. It was difficult to put into words why, but he was already obsessed with her. Could it be her mystique? Could it be her comical resistance to modern technology? Could it be her frankness or the undeniable sense of wisdom he'd felt from her? There was something about her…His mind went over the entire exchange he'd had with her. He'd felt so comfortable around her like he'd already known her. That certainly wasn't the norm when meeting people. He would often have to police his own nerves and say prepared phrases to get through the awkwardness.

What was she doing now? What back-breaking chore was she engaging in today? Was she somewhere totally neglected and alone, quietly maintaining the house? Did she ever truly look forward to doing something when she woke up in the morning? He wondered if he should call her. He wanted to, but he wasn't sure who would pick up the phone. The idea that Gohan might answer troubled him more than anything else. He'd been agreeable thus far, but now he was calling his house to speak to his mom who likely never received calls from anyone. He did say that he believed him when Auden said that he had no designs on his daughter. Still, the very fact that anyone was thinking along those lines made it much worse now, if he was interested in reaching out to Pan's grandmother. He wished things had happened differently, but the way Chi-Chi spent so much time hidden away from the world—the way they met was probably the only way he would have met her. The world was chaotic, cruel and benevolent all in the same breath. It seemed the randomness inherent in life was now swinging in his favor for once. What would he have done had he never met her like that? He'd probably still be vying for Pan's attention despite the fact that she'd become less attentive to his texts as of late.

He continued to lie in full indecision of whether to call or not. Maybe he should call later? But then if he called too late, that also wouldn't send a good message. Did she go to bed before or after everyone? Did she wake up before everybody? Maybe, maybe not. Those who lived there had jobs as well and who knew how early they needed to be awake for those things.

His ringing phone snapped him out of his thoughts. The caller ID read "Chi-Chi's house". It was as if someone had been privy to his thoughts all this time and had simply made the decision for him. He answered quickly before his anxiety got the better of him.

"Hello?" he asked as pleasantly as possible.

"Auden? This is Chi-Chi."

"Oh," he said with surprise.

"Yep, it's me. I know it's spur of the moment and kinda early, but do you want to go to the movies?"

Was this a date already? Chi-Chi was being so straightforward. He found that he liked that. "You're right, it is early. Is it really that urgent?"

"Well, for me it is. It's the best time to go. Sometimes you even get the whole theater to yourself! But there's this movie that just came out and I've been asking people to take me, but everyone's just too busy and I'm just annoying to everybody so you're my last resort."

"Your last resort?" he teased.

Chi-Chi laughed at this. It was a beautiful laugh and it was doing things to his heart. He didn't really mind being her last resort or middle resort or first resort… "I know, it sounds kinda' bad, but are you interested?"

"You know I don't live down the street, right?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You live near Pan, right? Out in West Capital. I guess…this was a bad idea then. I mean, I don't want to force you to drive for that long—"

"It's fine. I just so happen to have the day off. I wouldn't mind going to the movies. I haven't been in a long time. To be honest, mornings are great for movies."

"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. So, how long is it going to take you?"

"A few hours. Luckily, it'll still be early since the sun has barely come out."

"Well, don't let me keep you. Get here as fast as you can. I'll be waiting for you."

"Yes, ma'am." He wondered if she could hear the amusement in his tone.

They hung up after that. He hadn't felt like crawling out of bed today, but now he was rushing to get himself together so he could be out on the road already. He had to calm down midway through his usual morning ritual to collect himself. He made a small breakfast. Then he made sure he took enough medication with him. Soon he was edging out into the main street with his car. By the time he was on the interstate, he was a speeding a little over the limit—something he'd never done before. The giddiness was getting to him. This time, the drive over felt like it lasted an eternity and he was relieved when he finally made it into the city.

The driveway only had two cars this time as he pulled up. He sat a few moments in his car to calm his racing heart before making his way leisurely to the front door. He knocked and waited for an answer. He wondered if he should have called to let her know that he had arrived, but there was always the off chance that—

"Oh, hey—didn't know you were dropping by," Gohan said opening the door.

"H-Hi," Auden said clearly embarrassed.

"You're good with computers, right?"

"Well—

"My desktop has been on the fritz for weeks now and this morning it won't even bootup all the way. Do you mind taking a look at it—if it's not too much trouble?"

"Sure, of course," Auden replied though, in reality, he really didn't feel like doing that. He hoped it wouldn't take too long, but there were a dozen and one reasons why a computer would stop booting up properly and not all of them had easy solutions.

He followed Gohan through the house down into the den he'd seen the stairs to last time. The den had been turned into a lab. It was far more pristine than Bulma's place—the air seemed sterile as well, reminding Auden immediately of a hospital. The floors were white and tiled and what looked like medical equipment were behind cases and storage units. In the back was a hefty-sized computer; an old model. It seemed more like a terminal than a desktop, but he'd yet to see it in action.

"Have you told CC about it?" Auden finally asked once they arrived.

"I sent in a work order last week. I guess they're just dragging their feet on that. Don't you work in that department?"

"Not for these sorts of issues. We deal more with data management."

"Ah, I see. Well, it's a good thing you randomly decided to show up. What I'm working on is really important."

_They all say that…_ "I'm sure it is," he said as he took out his phone. "So let's turn it on and see what happens."

Gohan did so and they watched as the computer slowly went through its routine processes.

"Is it usually this sluggish?" Auden asked.

"Always. I turn it on first whenever I come down here—it takes almost half an hour for it to finish."

"Why not get a newer model?" Auden asked.

"Because…well, I would hate to just throw away a good, working computer and this was the first one I ever got all those years ago. We have history," he finished with a good-natured laugh.

"A computer becomes both useless and vulnerable after five years. Even if I got this working, you'd probably run into another problem fairly quickly."

Gohan turned to him with a frown, "Exactly what CC has told me over and over again. I don't know how people can just throw things away just because it's old—how is it useless if it still turns on? I'm guessing a guy like you wouldn't understand."

Auden sighed at this. "You're right, I don't. But you're not the first person I've met who's grown overly attached to inanimate objects." He was already looking at his phone again accessing the computer's OS which was also old, but clearly not as old as the computer itself. The OS probably couldn't be updated past this point due to structural limitations.

"It's not like…" Gohan paused probably thinking better on his response. "Yeah, I know, I'm being silly, but I really would hate having to get rid of it. Mom and I saved up a lot of money just to get this and it was a big deal at the time." He looked distant as his mind was likely reminiscing.

"Maybe you're looking at this in the wrong way. When someone is at the end of their life and there's no way around it, would it not be more considerate to simply allow them a fitting end or continue to artificially prolong their suffering? Devices like these aren't simply thrown away—its parts are recycled and put to better use."

"Now that is a difficult question especially since there's always a chance that someone could make a recovery."

"I don't think it's right to assume something like that considering that something alive must always die. We _can_ say that there is always a chance that someone doesn't make a recovery."

"That's true…"

"Alright, turn it off and try to turn it on again."

"Oh, you fixed it, already?" Gohan asked with some excitement.

"I don't know. We'll have to see if there's some other underlying issue."

The computer sprang to life this time and quickly transitioned to the welcome screen again in record time.

"Wow, it hasn't moved like this since I first got it. What did you do?" he asked impressed.

"There was a virus that had taken hold of your computer, but it doesn't seem too serious. The information on the device is still safe."

"I had no idea—and I've been being extra safe with this thing. I know it's pretty vulnerable, but I still have anti-malware on it and CC has the best on the market."

"Even if CC didn't, I'm sure they'd still claim they did," Auden said sardonically. "I'm going to install something a little better." He pressed send on his cellphone to instantly download the new software.

"Better than what I already have?" Gohan asked incredulously. "I bet it costs an arm and a leg and you're giving it to me for free?"

"Don't worry, it's something I made myself, but I really didn't change the interface or the logo."

Auden said this as the familiar CC logo popped up on the screen and commenced to installing.

"That sounds pretty exclusive—glad I asked for your help."

"Before you ask—I did send updates to their software, but the director in that department wasn't particularly fond of my meddling. Anyways, you now have the most powerful anti-virus program on your computer. Perhaps the amount of issues your computer has will decrease. Just make sure to keep it updated."

"Wait, you're going to be personally maintaining the software?"

"It's not so incredible. I'm just going to copy and paste code from CC's official version as well as add my own manipulation."

"I feel like I should be paying you or something."

"Don't worry about it. It's just something I like to do on my free time."

Auden watched as Gohan clicked through a few menus and started up some programs. "You've taken decades off this computer's life. It's officially a miracle. Now it makes more sense when Bulma called me earlier about what you did with the planetary radar. She could barely contain her excitement."

"News gets around fast. I had no idea."

"Yeah, I'm pretty much at her beck and call. Welcome to the club," he said laughing.

"So, you're working on the same thing Bulma is? Trying to find the dragon balls?"

"Not quite. She has that completely covered and it's not like I could have helped her much on that anyway. I'm working on something else entirely. A federal agency commissioned CC once again on a case that's been bubbling under the surface for some time now—they kinda' had to, since they'd hit a brick wall in their investigation. There've been strings of food contamination cases all across the world. They've taken samples, studied it, but they still have no idea where these products are being compromised and the number of incidents keep increasing now more steadily."

Auden's eyebrows furrowed at this. "All this is happening, and no one's informed the general public?"

"It would cause pandemonium, no doubt. We just don't have enough information yet nor do we even know how it's effecting people and to what extent. They've already recalled brands with the worst of it, but compromised products have appeared all across the spectrum and not just in consumables."

"Well, what do you know?"

"About the contaminants? Well, I've been studying these substances in the lab and I've had some breakthroughs. It seems to be able to take hold of DNA material and permanently change its structure. As far as I can tell, it can potentially lead to some subtle and not so subtle side-effects. Headaches, insomnia, increased aggression, increased appetite, increased risk of heart attack, increased strength, and in some cases infertility."

"Why does this sound like synthetic testosterone like steroids?" Auden asked as he listened intently.

"It does, but that's apparently not what this substance is. In my opinion, it seems like a mix between a virus and a stimulant. I've never seen anything like it before. But again, you have to have consumed this in a high amount and there hasn't been a case where that's happened."

"But it permanently changes one's DNA?"

"Yes. By the time I was assigned this case, most people had already been affected in some way unbeknownst to them. It stinks, I know. But there's not much we can do about it."

"And should I be worried? What's the risk levels in West Capital?"

"Oh that place got hit the worst, sorry. They've been working on stopping this for a while so they probably have a handle on it by now, but we still don't know the origins of all of this. We really need to figure this out."

"Maybe I should start growing my own food," Auden said shaking his head slowly.

Gohan looked at him sympathetically. "See what I mean? This could really start a panic and we'd be no closer to figuring out what's happening. You seem fine though. The worst is already over so they say."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you alright? Have you checked if it's done anything to you?" Auden asked.

"I did actually, but I should have known that this wouldn't have an effect on me."

Auden looked at him confused.

"Nevermind that. Just thought I might inform you about my current assignment."

"It sounds absolutely terrifying. Why exactly are you telling me all this privileged information?"

"Well, you already know about the dragon balls," he said with a shrug, "And I'm sure Bulma has you on her speed dial now the way you helped her last time. Hopefully I don't need to tell you this, but this should stay between us. I'm hoping it all goes away just as quietly as it came."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"I'm doing all I can to address the issue," Gohan said, "Which is more than what I usually do these days. For all intents and purposes, this all sounds bad, but nothing has really happened. Effected individuals have experienced no changes in their wellbeing. CC was told about this based off a routine check of food products and there was an anomaly that they couldn't make heads or tails of. I studied it as much as I could to finally tease out some negative side-effects. Aside from the DNA, nothing else will come of it since you need the contaminants in extremely high doses to have noticeable side-effects."

"That's somewhat relieving…"

"Yeah, I'm crossing my fingers that this isn't anything too serious."

Auden watched as Gohan had sat down at the computer—he'd already began typing in earnest. From the little he could make out on the screen, it appeared to be the beginning of a report summary of some kind.

"Well," Auden said after a moment. "If that's all you need from me, I think I'll take my leave."

"Okay," Gohan replied clearly preoccupied, "Oh and thanks again."

Auden slipped out of the lab before Gohan decided to ask him why he was even there in the first place.

"Auden? There you are. I saw your car outside, but didn't see you anywhere," Chi-Chi's voice said from behind him.

He turned to her with some surprise though relieved that he didn't have to go searching for her. He might have eventually ran into Videl.

"I was helping your son with a little problem."

"You mean with that junk computer he keeps down there?"

Auden grinned at this. "It's a piece of junk that might now survive a couple more years."

"Wait, you fixed it?"

"More or less."

"Good. I was getting tired of him complaining about it at every dinner! CC was really dragging their feet on that."

"I have a feeling there was a reason behind that, but it doesn't matter now."

"You're here for five minutes and I'm already glad I called."

Chi-Chi looked a little different today. She was wearing two hairpieces on the sides to push back her hair and dark red lipstick that added a bit of sheen to her lips.

"You look beautiful," Auden said.

She laughed at this. "Oh please, you don't have to try and butter me up. You're doing me a favor. I hate going to the movies alone."

"Well then, let's go while the day is still young."

He stepped aside to allow her to take the lead—she seemed all too happy to oblige. As she walked past him, he followed.

"Here I was thinking I'd have to wait until much later or watch it on TV somewhere. Thanks for actually coming."

"It was no problem."

"Well, still, you drove for hours for little ol' me. Don't think I haven't noticed."

They made their way out of the house and eagerly climbed into the car.

"So which movie theater? There's a few of them nearby."

"I want the one with recliners—Century Cinema."

"Century Cinema it is," Auden said as he tapped it into the GPS.

"Oh, you don't need that," Chi-Chi said referring to the GPS, "I'll tell you where to go."

"Alright," he said as he paused his quick tapping motions on the touchscreen dashboard. "If we get lost, it's all on you," he teased.

She snorted. "Don't worry, I know where I'm going."

"Says the lady who admits that she doesn't go out much."

"I only go to the movies or to the grocery store if anywhere."

"Nowhere else?"

"Well…maybe a couple other places."

She didn't divulge him on just what that was, and he didn't push her to answer. Instead, he focused on driving as he carefully pulled out of the driveway. He waited patiently for her instructions as he slowly made his way to the intersection. He wasn't really comfortable driving in an area he wasn't familiar with no GPS to help. From his experience, relying on someone else was nerve-racking since people often waited until the last minute to tell you to turn left or right. Yet here he was. He didn't usually drive this slow, but today he would to assuage his growing anxiety.

Auden sighed when they made it all the way to the intersection and she hadn't said anything. Her eyes seemed glued to the window on her side. "Left or right," he asked as politely as he could muster.

"Oh, sorry—make this right," she said as if he was disturbing her thoughts.

"Please, Chi-Chi, we might end up driving into a ditch if you keep this up."

"Yeah, yeah," Chi-Chi replied slightly annoyed. "Now I see why you like your GPS—you don't like getting lost."

"I think most people don't like getting lost."

Chi-Chi chuckled at this. "Well, we're not in a rush, right?"

"Apparently not. But you did say you wanted to get there sometime this morning."

"Geez, it's not that bad. It takes maybe an hour or two to drive through this whole city."

"Without traffic, maybe."

"I try to avoid traffic."

"I find traffic to be mostly unavoidable."

"Well, go early or very late."

"I don't always have the luxury. Like now."

"I guess it is getting towards the afternoon."

As soon as they made it out of the neighborhood, they were faced with traffic that was just beginning to slow down to a snail pace. Auden glanced over at Chi-Chi who was back to observing the outside world through the side window.

"You really don't get out much, do you? Not even to the movies, not even for groceries."

"I end up walking sometimes, but my family likes to just get things for me so I don't have to bother going somewhere. I mostly just feel like a burden on everyone so it doesn't seem right to make them take me places just because I'm bored."

"Walking? So far, things seem quite spread out and I don't see a lot of sidewalks."

"I noticed pretty quickly that this city isn't very friendly to pedestrians. Guess that's city life for you."

"Correction, Satan City isn't friendly to pedestrians. West Capital is. The infrastructure here isn't nearly has well-thought out or innovative."

"Of course, you know the tiny differences between this or that city. It's all noisy and crowded."

"Well, they both have a lot of traffic—this isn't as bad as back home though."

Chi-Chi giggled a little at this. "Back home," she repeated almost to herself. "When I hear that phrase, I think of something a lot more quiet and intimate."

"I can only imagine. You haven't told me where to go in a while, by the way."

"You're going the right way."

"Really?" he said half-believing.

"Yep, didn't even have to say anything. Seems your instincts of just going to the main street and going straight down was right. Who knew?"

"Well, you're forcing me to guess. All this mystery is completely unnecessary."

"So long as we don't drive into a ditch, we'll be fine."

Auden hadn't heard of Century Cinema before. It was likely a small chain if it was one at all. Knowing Chi-Chi, it was probably something small and personable. He didn't expect it to be at the nearby town center that was coming up. Maybe it was somewhere further along in a shopping center. They had to sit through quite a few stop lights along the way.

"Is the turn coming up soon?" Auden asked once they were past the town center.

"Yes, actually. On the next turn coming up."

"Left or right?" he asked this time not disguising his impatience.

"What do _you_ think?" she asked with some mischief in her tone.

"Left," he said noticing that the right seemed to be leading into a residential area.

"Hm, it's like you know this place already."

"For a GPS, you're not very forthcoming," he said turning on his left signal.

Chi-Chi chuckled again. "See? You can just use your instincts especially if you've lived your whole life in cities; it shouldn't be that difficult to figure out where things are even if you haven't been there before."

"Maybe, but I would prefer less guessing."

"You should trust yourself more."

Auden glanced over at her again, but she hadn't even been looking his way. She seemed enthralled with the moving world around her. He had to look around for the sign since it was obvious to him that she'd likely answer his question of "where" with another one of her own. It was stress-inducing, but they were nearly there and this little ordeal was almost over. He had to make a few turns as the shopping center was vast and had different sections, but eventually he found the huge parking lot of the theater with only a few cars occupying it.

"We're here," he said after deciding on an arbitrary parking space not even bothering to ask where she preferred him to park.

"Huh? Oh, yes, we made it." She seemed in her own little world and he'd taken her out of it at least for the time being. "I really like that you don't turn on music or anything just on a side note. Every time I go out with the family, they always have some wacky music selection on and we can barely hear each other talk."

"It just helps me concentrate," he said back, "But I don't mind music."

"Even still," she said opening her door.

He climbed out of the car as well, glad to have made it in one piece. Once she closed her door, he locked them with his key before joining her on the long trek to the entrance.

"I forgot to ask you—what movie did you want to see?"

"You'll see," she said with a smile.

"Another unnecessary mystery? We're about to buy tickets anyway."

"I already bought tickets."

"Oh," he said in subtle surprise.

"Gohan got them for me so I don't have to fumble around with cards and money."

"Well, did you want anything to eat? Popcorn, candy?"

Chi-Chi shook her head no. "I just want to watch a movie. We can eat afterwards, if you want."

"I'd like that," he said without hesitation.

True to her word, it was a mystery right up until they arrived at the right room. It was a romantic comedy. He should have known. This had premiered in theaters last week if he remembered right. The people who'd wanted to watch it had already done so ages ago. It didn't take long these days for movies to circulate out of the theaters. This was likely the last week it would be in. He spied her looking at him as he noted the movie title in large letters on the signage.

"So?" she asked wanting to get his opinion.

"Well, it's a movie."

"Cute. You don't like it, do you?"

"I won't know until I see it, but it's not my favorite genre."

"Oh, you're so diplomatic. You can just say you hate it. It won't hurt my feelings."

"We'll see," he said much to her annoyance. For some reason, he didn't mind her annoyance and he grinned in response.

He hadn't seen a lot of these kinds of movies, but he'd seen enough in his humble opinion. They were all quite painful to watch. Had anyone other than Chi-Chi been there beside him, he might have just left the theater a few minutes in. Is this what Chi-Chi wanted from him? Should he be more romantic? The very idea of it sounded tiring. He just wanted to be in her company. It didn't necessarily have to have some romantic subtext. From the short time he'd known her, even she didn't seem all that interested in overtly romantic things. Of course, they were at the movies together. Perhaps one could read into that, but he didn't think it was the same.

His perpetual tiredness did nothing to help him actually sit through more than a quarter of the movie. He was already fighting with his eyelids not to close completely. Whenever he glanced over at Chi-Chi, she seemed to have her full attention on the screen. Why wouldn't she? It was a huge screen and the biggest thing sitting directly in front of them with bright flashing lights. Yet he couldn't find the energy to even pay attention to what was happening. The dialogue that droned on and on turned into a pleasant lullaby. There was some argument happening—it reminded him of something, but he couldn't think of what. He could hear distant voices. It was his mother's voice or what he assumed was her voice, he really had no idea what she sounded like anymore. There was a striking familiarity with it. Then a heavy, male voice which seemed similar to his own yelled back with overwhelming fervor drowning out the woman's voice. He couldn't decipher the words. He was too young, and they were talking too fast. It all felt nostalgic. Someone was holding him. He was in someone's lap, his father's lap. He could feel the electric environment around him yet he felt safe and unbothered. He heard one sentence clearly.

"I told you to go put him upstairs!"

He felt someone nudging him. He ignored it at first, but then it became more insistent. "Auden? Movie's over," came Chi-Chi's voice.

"Hm?" he said tiredly. It was a struggle opening his eyes again. He'd probably been moments away from really falling asleep.

"Come on, let's go," she said climbing out of the chair. She stretched a little and he heard a few of her bones popping. "Ugh, sitting in one place for too long does wonders for me."

It took him a moment to catch his bearings. Waking up in such a public place was jarring and the room was still dark albeit a little less so since the credits were rolling. He yawned despite himself. "Sorry about that—

"No need to apologize," she said laughing. "I had a blast and my husband would have done way worse than you. We made it through the whole thing without you annoying me to death."

"Sounds like a low bar."

"He would have needed tons of food to get him through a two-hour long movie and that's if you could get him to sit down and that's even if you can explain what a movie is in the first place and that's even if you can drag him away from training for more than a few seconds."

"Well, he seems interesting."

"Like I said, you did far better."

When he climbed out of the chair, he was a little light-headed and as they stepped out of the theater, the world appeared strange around him as it always did after watching a movie. Even though he hadn't seen much of it, the same effect still applied. Auden could sense Chi-Chi's good mood as he had to constantly move faster keep up with her pace.

She turned to him moments before making it past the sidewalks, pausing in her giddy pace. "I think I forgot to say it but thank you for taking me to the movies. You came all this way just for me and I know that you didn't have to do any of this."

"The pleasure was all mine," he said readily.

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"No, I really mean it," he insisted. "I know it sounds cliché, but it describes what I'm thinking. I suppose we haven't done very much today—even still."

"I think I might just believe you," she said observing him quietly. "Which is incredible since, you said it, we haven't done anything really. Hanging out with someone like this—I'm not used to it. Whenever I tried to do something like this with my husband something would always come up or he'd find every silly way to get out of it. You're nothing like that."

"One of my favorite parts of the day is when you start comparing me to your husband."

She looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry, you probably don't like that, but I think about him a lot. Since the day he decided to leave, I'm always wondering if he's doing okay or if he's even alive."

"Do you still love him?" he asked in neutral tones.

"Yes," she said looking at him squarely. "Is that a dealbreaker for you?"

"I was just wondering. I wasn't aware I was involved in some sort of deal. Besides, I think people are capable of loving more than one person at once. Monogamy is overrated."

She seemed to be left in shock even as he made movements towards the parking lot. After two steps, she snapped out of it and caught back up with him.

"What is this? Are you 'edgy' Auden now?" she teased. "I know I don't know you that well, but that seemed completely left field."

"I think I prefer 'city boy'. I'm not very edgy. Just from observing people from afar, I know people end up being attracted to far more than just one person and then struggle trying to convince themselves that they must choose one. They can only be fulfilled by one person and not another. We all know that that's clearly not the case, but societal norms force them to choose or face the consequences."

"It's almost like you were secretly watching the movie. I think you're right though. I could never see myself in that situation though. Goku was my first and only."

"Don't you think it's a little short-sighted?—especially since you have no idea what the future holds or the people you might meet."

Chi-Chi snorted at this. "Don't think I don't see what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"I don't know what you think this is, but we are just two adults enjoying a movie together."

"I wouldn't call it that, but I don't see why we have to put labels on anything."

"What would you call it?"

"I haven't the slightest clue. I'm just glad you got to do something you otherwise wouldn't today and that I got to spend some time with you."

"That last part…" She let the sentence hang in the air.

"Yes?" he asked urging her to finish her thought.

"If that's really all you want, then maybe I can persuade you to take me somewhere else."

"Of course. I have all day."

"First off, are you hungry?"

"Not particularly."

"Great, I wasn't either. It's just…Well, I won't bring him up again—"

"There's no need to censor yourself. If you want to talk about him, then I want to hear about him."

Chi-Chi laughed at this. "Yeah, right. I know you're just being nice."

"Where did you want to go?" he asked refocusing the conversation.

"There's a park I haven't been to in ages. I just want to walk around there a bit, well, however long you're willing to anyway."

"Let's go then. The weather's nice today."

"R-Really?"

His eyebrows furrowed a little in confusion. "Why not?"

By now they'd made it back to the car and were talking to each other on either side of it.

"You don't seem like a 'park' kind of guy. I can picture you somewhere inside messing around with some sort of computer."

"Usually, but not all the time. I'm not opposed to some change in scenery." Auden took this moment to open the car door and slip in. He waited for Chi-Chi to do the same.

She climbed into the seat beside him. "Well, good, I didn't want to take you too far out of your comfort zone."

"Hm, I've been trying to expand my comfort zone as of late."

Chi-Chi looked at him questioningly. "Oh? Some sort of midlife crisis?"

"No, just a determination that hadn't been there before. One has to start somewhere."

"Now that's a gentle way of putting it," she teased. "Alright, so this park I want to go to—I actually have no idea how to get to it or the address."

"Just tell me what it's called."

"Wait, that's all you need?"

"That's all. I'll do the rest."

"The wonders of technology. Dyer's Park."

Auden quickly input this into the GPS, having to eventually change the spelling, before locating what was possibly Chi-Chi's destination—she couldn't even remember if it was inside the city limits or not.

"Doesn't it feel like we're on an adventure now? We have no idea if we're going to the right place."

"You like getting lost, don't you?"

"It's all part of the fun. Everyone's always in a rush and it doesn't have to be that way. All that pent-up stress always needing to be somewhere at some particular time. I don't know how people do it all their lives."

"Nothing would ever get done otherwise. Have you ever thought about the people who constantly waste time waiting for the person unconcerned about whether they get somewhere on time? That's stress-inducing."

"So, you value punctuality."

"If there's need for it, yes."

"But even if it's not, I bet you set up some sort of rough schedule in your mind that you more or less try to adhere to."

"There's only so much time in a day. I do have some plans later on."

"Like?"

"Well, I think I'll make dinner tonight for my daughter. She wants to bring over that guy she's been seeing for a while now."

"I remember those days. They always make it like some huge ordeal every time I asked about their girlfriends. I'm a perfectly reasonable person."

"Well, this would be the first time for this sort of thing. She usually likes to keep to herself."

"Oh, like you."

"She's nowhere near as bad as I am."

Chi-Chi's eyes were already glued to the passing trees of the highway. "I bet she's just as beautiful as you are."

"She takes after her mother quite a bit."

She turned quiet when he said this. It was as if she knew not to ask anything further. Frankly, he wasn't even sure why he'd even uttered the words. It was as if some part of him was willing to rip open old wounds having barely healed over in the first place. Of course, he couldn't help that his mind would always return to the trauma at some point each day.

Chi-Chi seemed more enthralled with the environment outside and he let the matter rest. He looked at the ETA and noted that there was a half an hour left. Auden had his doubts that Chi-Chi had even been there before. This was on the edge of the city and it seemed difficult to get someone to even take her to the movies that was just five minutes away. They drove in relative silence until they made it there. Trees were already looming overhead and soon they were in complete shade as he inched through the one-way lanes to a parking spot. There were quite a few cars out there already on account of the bright, sunny day.

She looked around with a bit of a smile on her face. "You know, I'm still not sure if this is the right place, but I like it already. I bet it has hiking trails."

Tired of being in the car and enticed by the greenery beyond, he simply climbed out of the car. He wondered if he should have been better prepared for this. When it came to places like these, it always seemed like a good idea to have a bag of emergency items, but such forethought was often too tiring to follow through on.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"No."

"Are you sure? I mean, we can always grab something before we go in. I don't want you to starve to death."

"I'm not hungry."

She looked at him perplexed. "Well, alright."

"Are you?" he asked outright.

"Not this early," she said.

"My thoughts exactly."

"But…Nevermind."

Without even knowing where they were headed in particular, they began on a trail that started nearby. Neither were opposed to it. Auden hadn't stretched his legs like this in some time, but as long as they kept a leisurely pace, he didn't foresee any issues.

"You really seemed concerned," he noted at last.

"Sorry, I'm just used to someone wanting food all the time."

"Your husband?" he asked casually.

"Goku couldn't get past a full thirty minutes before he was thinking about food again. I used to cook all the time and pack so much food or arrange to eat somewhere at certain times that it became second nature, at least whenever we actually hung out."

"He sounds even more interesting. Eating is such a chore. Finding all the ingredients, cooking, cleaning up, using the bathroom afterwards or wasting money at some overpriced restaurant or fast food. If I can sit down at three different meals in a day, that's a good day. The idea of snacking between meals, equally as tiring—you either plan for it or waste more time and money looking around for something to eat. And if I get too full, I'll probably just fall asleep which isn't ideal in the middle of a workday."

"Geez, you make it sound so depressing! What about good food? Don't you ever look forward to eating something nice and flavorful?"

"I do sometimes, if I can get around either cooking it or going to get it somewhere. It requires motivation I don't always have, and it just adds one more stipulation to figuring out what to eat."

"Spoken like someone who's not that good at cooking."

"It doesn't come naturally, but whenever I get around to it, I don't hear any complaints from Aster and she has no issue complaining about things."

"Well, that's something at least. I guess you don't have a lot of good memories with food then."

"I wouldn't say that. It's just not a big deal. Not on a daily basis."

"Huh," she said thoughtfully as they continued down the path. "You know, I guess I'd say the same. I feel like I'm cooking almost all the time, but by the time we're all sitting around the table to enjoy it—I'm just not up to the task of eating it. Strangely enough."

"Food tastes even better when you're not the one preparing it or it wasn't too difficult to put together."

"You might be right about that."

They walked a while without speaking. The foliage was thick around them and all he could hear were sounds of wildlife coming from every direction. It was as if the trees were alive chattering to one another especially as a persistent cool breeze shook the leaves. The heavy shade kept the climbing temperatures of the day at a reasonable level. If only he'd worn the right shoes to this little venture—he wouldn't be feeling every sharp rock he managed to step on.

"Want to race me?" Chi-Chi asked breaking the silence.

"No—

But before he could fully answer, she was already racing off and he didn't want to be left behind. Her feet moved easily over the uneven floor filled with sticks and other tree and animal droppings. He tried to keep up, but he was already losing ground. He almost fell down twice in his haphazard pursuit. Then she parted from the trail completely and led him deeper into the far less traveled section. He was beginning to see why as he struggled moving through thick, unmanaged plant life. He stumbled a few more times before losing sight of her. For a moment, he was utterly lost and surrounded on all sides by heavily vined trees. Panic was just beginning to set in, but he ignored it for the time being.

"Hey, Chi-Chi, wait up!" he called out.

Several birds shot up into the sky nearby, but he didn't hear a response. All he could do was keep going straight. He moved as fast as he could without falling flat on his face though he knew he was quickly running out of breath. His breathing was quite ragged, in fact, when in the next moment he was out of the thick foliage and in a clearing. The grass was too dense for stable footing, but it wasn't as bad as before. He saw Chi-Chi in the distance further into the center much to his relief. Hopefully, she was done sprinting around as she seemed to be enjoying herself in the bright rays of the sun. Maybe this was her preferred area in the park. He wondered how she'd ever found it considering how far off the trails this was. He made it a few steps in before deciding to simply sit down. Besides, his balance wasn't improving as he was trying to catch his breath. He was still in the shade of the trees. 

Her excitement could barely be contained as she frolicked about in all the open space. She was bursting with energy and completely in her element—a sharp contrast from himself.

Eventually, she acknowledged his presence and came back to sit near him. "A little out-of-shape, are we?" she teased laughing.

"Just a little." He might have laughed as well had he the breath for it.

"So how do you like it? I mean, I had no idea this was here, but I'm glad I found it."

Auden looked at her wearily. "This was just some wild goose chase? I should have known. You don't seem like the type to plan anything out."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have left you behind. I'm not that inconsiderate."

"One can only wonder." His heart was still pounding but his breathing was just beginning to normalize.

"Maybe we should do this more often, you know."

"Stumbling through a forest? I think I'll pass."

"Oh, you'd get used to it. This was kind of spur of the moment. I meant jogging somewhere. I really don't get out like I used to."

" _This_ was jogging? Seemed like you were running at breakneck speeds."

This seemed to amuse her as she laughed a little louder than last time. "Someone should drag you away from your computers more often. I barely broke a sweat and this is me on a bad day." She took this moment to lie down on the grassy carpet to peer up into the sky.

"It would help if I didn't have the wrong kind of shoes on."

She glanced over at his loafers. "I bet you don't even own a pair of sneakers or boots."

As he thought about it, he realized this was true, but he didn't grace her with an answer that was likely obvious at this point. He made himself a little more comfortable as he spread his legs out before him in a direction away from Chi-Chi. He'd rather be sitting in a nice, clean chair, but he had to make do. Perhaps a blanket would have helped in this situation.

"Are you hungry yet?" she asked.

"Are you going to keep asking me that?"

"Force of habit, I guess. Now I'm worried you're starving yourself—I've probably been around too many Saiyans."

He wondered at the term 'Saiyan', but he ignored it for now. "I suppose it's getting to lunchtime. Maybe then I'll get something."

"Maybe I could make you something."

"You don't have to go through all that trouble."

"No trouble at all. I have to get back home for lunch anyways."

"What happens if you decide not to cook?"

"I'm sure they won't know what to do with themselves," she said giggling.

"They're all adults, they should be able to figure something out."

"You'd think. I know Gohan wouldn't be happy if I didn't tell him ahead of time."

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oho, you're telling me not to worry?"

"You're right, that felt a little strange," he said amused.

Though he'd gathered himself by now, he knew he'd feel perpetually tired for the rest of the day—more tired than usual at least. Whatever reserved energy he thought he had simply disappeared in the face of rigorous activity even if it was for a few minutes.

"You know, me and Bulma talk sometimes."

He unconsciously bristled at the utterance of her name. "It's difficult for me to imagine Bulma having a friend like you."

"We just so happened to be in the same circle of friends and Goku can make friends with everyone. She ended up with Vegeta and suddenly we always had a ton of things to talk about. Anyways, she was there for me when others weren't."

"That seems like a common theme for her."

"She's a fiercely loyal friend."

"I suppose so."

"She told me about you coming to help her on one thing or another. As soon as she gets into her science talk, I kind of tune her out. I had no idea who you were at the time, all I had was a name and she told me how worried she was about you. She sort of colored my impression of you before ever meeting you. We've been hanging out for awhile and you hardly seem like the person she described, but I guess I don't know you as well as she does. Here you are completely out of your element and you seem calm and composed."

"I'm flattered anyone would bother discussing me at any length. Last time I visited her, things turned sour fairly quickly and I didn't handle things well at all. It was embarrassing."

"Oh, sorry, I don't mean to put you on the spot. I couldn't keep all this to myself."

"I took a couple days off work to recover which is why I have so much free time today. Me and Bulma have some history together—history I'd rather forget—it's not always so easy to keep my composure in front of her. I know that's not a good excuse. It didn't have to be her; it could have been anyone in which that happened. One thing just sets off another and then it seems to spiral out of control. Sorry, if I'm not being very specific."

"That's alright. I don't need any specifics. I understand. Whenever I'm left to myself, I start to think about Goku, about how I'll never see him, and how much that continues to hurt more and more every passing day and I get into a mood that I can't seem to get out of very easily. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes cooking doesn't help me at all and then everyone gets overly concerned about me. I'm not usually like that. Usually, I can hide my sadness, but sometimes I can't and my thoughts become—well, I'm too embarrassed to say it out loud. They darken to a point which scares me."

"How do you ever recover from that?" he asked.

"Well, I wake up to a bright new day and the mood has somehow lifted. It's easier to sweep whatever I'd been feeling under the rug until it creeps back on me again some other time."

"I suppose a full night's rest really does work wonders."

"I don't know what I'd do if it didn't." She sat up slowly and positioned herself directly in front of him.

She observed him silently and he wondered what could possibly be going through her mind. She seemed pensive.

"Sometimes I like to meditate as well when all else fails," she said finally.

"It's helpful to think back on past actions and figure out how you could have done things differently."

"Not quite that—I do that sometimes too though. I'm talking about a more traditional form of meditation when you clear your mind of all distractions and strengthen your mental fortitude and balance your energy."

Auden looked at her questionably. "I don't think I've heard it described that way."

"Do you want to try it with me? I think it might help you."

He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he couldn't think of a legitimate reason to refuse. He'd already admitted aloud as well as to himself on plenty of occasions that he wasn't okay. He could manage to make it through a day only if nothing triggered him in the wrong way and he still wasn't fully aware what those triggers might be. He took a chance every time he went to work and engaged in social interactions. He knew he was taking even greater risks tasking himself with doing things outside of his usual routine. He knew that Aster hated whenever he did such things, but these were the milestones he'd set out for himself. It was something his therapist seemed to focus on each session. What were his goals and how would he reach them?

"Sure, I suppose it's worth a try."

She wore a subtle grin. "And here I thought you'd brush me off as crazy. People outside of our little group tend to think that. You already know about the dragon balls so I guess you're not quite like the general public."

"These dragon balls must be quite important. Is it forbidden knowledge to even know they exist?"

"Not really. It's just that so few people do and we're the ones who've tracked them down time and time again—not me specifically, but Bulma and the gang. It has far reaching consequences."

"If they do what Bulma says they do, the possibilities seem limitless."

"There are limits but for all intents and purposes, they might as well be," Chi-Chi replied. "Now, I need you to close your eyes."

Chi-Chi had already done so. He followed in suit. She didn't say anything else for a while and he wondered if he should have been trying to "clear his mind" at this point. The constant sounds of life around them became a bit more prevalent as he waited.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

"And how is that since we've barely just met?"

"You haven't given me a reason not to."

She paused before responding perhaps considering his answer. "So analytical or incredibly naïve—maybe both. Where do your feelings come in? Do you feel you can trust me?"

"They're unreliable at best, but I do feel I can trust you."

"Good. I'm just going to ask you a few questions—the same ones I ask myself every time I do this. You can come up with your own later on."

There was a longer pause here and once again the sounds of the forest overtook his senses. He wondered if this was intentional. He also wondered if he should stop trying to 'figure out' how all this was working and just experience it. She had just asked if he trusted her after all.

"What is something you most look forward to doing right now?"

"In this instant? Figuring out if meditation will actually affect me in some profound way."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised at that answer. What is something you don't look forward to doing right now?"

"Doing anything that requires more physical exertion. I don't think I can take much more."

Chi-Chi couldn't resist giggling at this. "Don't worry about that. No more running today. I promise we'll just walk back to the car after this. Who do you trust the most?"

"You."

"Me? Do I need to remind you that we've only just—

"Yes, I know."

"But what about your daughter?"

"Aster? I know she cares about me, but I know she doesn't say certain things to me. I know that she's constantly trying to control every aspect of my life so that I remain socially isolated from anyone aside from her. I understand why she does that, misguided though she may be."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you can work something out with her one day. Who do you hate the most?"

He had an answer immediately, but then couldn't bring himself to say it. They sat in awkward silence for some time.

"Out of all the people that you know," she expounded eventually.

"Is that really important?"

"I mean, not really. You don't have to say anything you don't want to."

"How do you usually answer that question?" he asked.

"The answer has been 'Goku' for many years now. It's important that I admit that to myself or else I might just burst."

"The man who you still love?"

"The very same. Life is strange sometimes, isn't it?"

Auden took a deep breath. "It's Bulma, sorry."

"No need to apologize. I know she can rub people the wrong way sometimes."

"At this point, I don't know what to do with that fact. It's just there and for some reason, it hasn't faded with time."

"Maybe it will one day, maybe it won't. Who do you—

"I'm already running out of people to answer these questions," he cut in.

"Just repeat names," she said with some amusement. "Who do you like the most?"

"You."

"Oh, stop. I thought you were taking this seriously."

"I am. I don't have a whole laundry list of people I hang out with, but even if I did, I suspect I'd have the same answer."

Chi-Chi sighed at this. "Right. Tell me, what is something you really like about yourself?"

"Well," he began thoughtfully. "That I'm able to help people with things they find too difficult to understand."

"All that techy stuff is way out of my wheelhouse, yet you make it sound like it so easy to understand. What is something you really hate about yourself?"

"As much as I like having time to myself sometimes it gets pretty lonely. I know that sounds pathetic. To not have some deep connection with someone that I trust becomes increasingly trying and it makes one stupid and desperate. I'm sorry, but do we have to keep doing this? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to do," he finished with frustration in his tone.

"I—Well, I guess that got a little personal. I'm trying to be neutral. It's good that you're being honest with yourself. That's not easy for people to do. Saying these things out loud allows you to think more clearly. There's no confusion in your mind. You know where you stand. I was just asking things that I'm usually not sure about or I fool myself into thinking that it's something other than it is."

"I do enough of this sort of thing with my therapist."

"Oh," she said apparently caught off guard by his statement.

She was either surprised that he went to a therapist or that his tone wasn't quite as friendly as it usually was. He didn't care which one was true, but he was suddenly regretting doing any of this. Why had he agreed to take her to the movies anyway? He barely knew her. He'd already admitted to trusting and liking her more than anyone else and that was truly pitiful. No one would want to spend much more time with someone like that. Without Aster, who would even care? Why was he even bothering reaching out to anyone other than her? Eventually, every person he talked to would realize how much of a waste of space he was and move on with their lives regretting ever giving him any attention whatsoever. He opened his eyes for a second to check the time—it was a few minutes passed the time he was supposed to take his pills.

"Hold on for a moment," Auden said before she could say anything else.

"Take your time."

Her eyes were still closed. He thought about turning around so that she wouldn't see, but he realized that he was done with attempting to appear somewhat appealing in her eyes. He didn't have any water so he couldn't take them all at once, but slowly he poured the pills into his hand a few at a time and forced them down his throat with help from his saliva—probably not the most pleasant thing he'd done in his life, but he was far away from water and he knew he was already spiraling.

"Okay," he said returning to his position.

"I don't know what to say—Um, I didn't mean to upset you, but I guess I kind of did. It's always hard admitting things to yourself."

"It's fine."

"It's not 'fine'. None of this is designed to make you feel comfortable. That's not what meditation is about."

Auden frowned at this, but made no comment.

"I think I've prepped you enough and being in this sort of environment helps. Now that you're clear of mind it is time for the body. Try to sense every inch of your body without moving. Feel every part of yourself without touching—your neck, your shoulders and down from there. Notice the feeling of the ground beneath you and how it interacts with your feet and legs. Notice the breeze passing through here and how it touches certain parts of you and not others. When you're clear like this, when you're acutely aware of yourself, do you feel something else just under the surface? Something that's always been there but was never told to notice? Something moving through every part of yourself. You can control that. You have authority over that energy. If you can, can you bring it forth?"

He wasn't sure if he was focusing in on the right thing, but he'd noticed it before many times in the past in very quiet moments. It never occurred to him that he could somehow 'bring it forth' or that it was something to be manipulated. He hesitated for a moment as he felt it more prominently than he'd ever had before coursing fiercely through, almost nauseatingly so. It was hard to ignore now that he knew it was there. He was trembling now from its very presence as if excited about the prospects of its full acknowledgement. He realized he was holding his breath.

"It's alright, I can already feel it," Chi-Chi said encouragingly.

Then he released it and it was like the floodgates poured open. It raged completely out of his control seeping from every part of himself. He opened his eyes and all he could see was bright yellow all around him with sparks of electricity. He tried to climb to his feet, but only wound up falling forward onto his hands.

"Kami!" he heard her exclaim in surprise. She sounded further away from him. "Try to focus it in your hand! Just focus everything into one place, okay?"

Words seemed to escape him, but he took her advice—it was the only thing he could do otherwise he had no way to even begin figuring out what was happening. _Focus, focus…_ Though it was a bit of a strain, he was able to reign all that energy into one singular point.

"Now try to bring it back—

He couldn't hold the fiery ball of energy in his hand and it shot from his grasp into the distance only to come in contact with the other end of the meadow. Then all at once, the ground began violently shaking and he lost what balance he did have. He heard Chi-Chi nearby falling to the ground though he hadn't sighted her yet. A mass of wind lifted him well off the ground and pushed him back so forcefully that he ended up colliding with a tree.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, the skies were already darkening. Clearly, some span of time had passed. He felt faint even as his senses slowly returned to him.

"You're awake!" Chi-Chi said excitedly. She was standing now before him with arms akimbo.

"H-How long was I out—What the hell was that?" he asked all at once.

"For hours. It's the same day. And I don't know—you tell me."

"Was that supposed to happen?"

"No way! I did the same thing with Goten and that definitely didn't happen. This was just supposed to be some mild mental and body strengthening. That's all!"

He tried to climb back to his feet, but quickly realized that he'd sooner be tumbling back down to the ground if went any further. As he sat down again, he waited for the world to stop spinning around him.

"Not so quickly," she warned. "It's no rush."

"What time is it?"

"Almost seven."

"Tch, it's gonna' take me hours to get back home and by then it would be well past dinner."

"You don't have to drive back today—maybe you can stay over. We have plenty of rooms."

"No, that wouldn't be a good idea," he said looking up at her now. "No offense."

"None taken. If you're so insistent though, maybe I can drive you."

"But then you'd be stuck in my city or get home really late."

"None of this is rocket science, alright?" she said squatting now. "We'll figure it out as we go. I'm more concerned about what just happened. You sure you're human, right?"

"Y-Yes," he said caught off guard by the question. "Is there some other species of humanoid beings?"

"You'd be surprised. I'm just making sure. What I saw today…" She looked out towards all the destruction in the distance. "I don't know how to say it other than it's way more than expected especially since this was your first time. I'm not all that well-versed in power levels and all that, but you must have broken some record. And your base energy seems extremely potent. I don't know what to make of it really."

"I don't know if what you said is a good or bad thing. Whatever energy I was feeling before, I'm not feeling it the same way. It's more subdued."

"I bet it is. Here, try standing again now." She held her hand to him and he took it.

This time when he climbed to his feet, his initial dizziness didn't overwhelm him, but he did stumble a little from weakness. He'd never felt this level of weakness before. It was as if he'd been overexerting himself for hours all in the span of a few moments.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"I can manage walking," he said. It was becoming a little more difficult to see her in the increasing darkness. The sun had already set.

"Let's go before it gets too dark. I think the park already closed."

"Okay. I'll follow your lead."

She didn't run this time as promised. In fact, she walked slower than usual likely to accommodate his labored pace. The first few steps were somewhat manageable, but the rest of his fight through the thick forest was an uphill battle. He hoped he wouldn't lose his balance again. He knew he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon if that was the case. He was glad when they eventually made it back on the path. They inched their way slowly back down the trail.

Once in the parking lot again, Auden instinctively headed to the driver's side, but Chi-Chi insisted he take the other side. She was probably right in her sentiments, but he wasn't sure she could drive. Without bothering to voice his concerns he climbed into the passenger's side of the car. Upon sitting down, he knew he had no business behind the wheel at this point especially when exhaustion overtook him suddenly.

"So where to? Do you really want to head home or back to my place?"

"I know it sounds silly, but I really want to go back home. I won't fare very well elsewhere. Not resting at least. I can call a cab."

"Don't bother with all that. I can drive just fine. All I need is an address."

"Alright," he said no longer feeling up to analyzing why she wanted to do it this way. He told her the address and she seemed to remember it.

"I'll use the GPS," she said, "But…could you start it for me?"

"You? GPS?" he asked in surprise.

"Shut-up. I realize this is probably better than me bugging you the whole way there. Just do it before I change my mind."

Auden was already pressing the couple selections needed on the screen—his home was already programmed into the system. Soon the map was displaying directions.

"Good. Now all you gotta' do is relax. I'll take you home."

"But what about you?"

Chi-Chi sighed exasperatedly. "I'll take a cab back, of course. I know they'll really want me back."

"Fine, alright—I just wanted to make sure."

"Must you plan everything?"

"Sorry."

"It's alright."

The car being on, she finally decided to back out of the parking lot. She seemed to be a careful driver and she was likely quite rusty. He couldn't relax until they were out on the highway again. By that time, he couldn't resist closing his eyes in utter exhaustion. It was nice to finally give in.

The next time he was opening his eyes, he felt the car slowing down and his surroundings were familiar. He was back in West Capital.

"Had enough of your beauty rest? You're right on time."

The car was pulling up into the parking space. It was a little ways from where he usually parked, but he wasn't too concerned about this. Hours has passed in seconds. The second half of the day was becoming quite the blur. He groaned in his slowly subsiding bleariness. He heard as she opened the door on her side. It took him a moment, but eventually he did the same.

"Thanks," Auden finally said as he stretched his aching muscles.

"The pleasure was all mine," she said teasingly.

"You sure you're not just saying that just to make me feel better?" he said echoing their previous conversation.

"No, I really mean it," she said mocking his tone. "I know it sounds cliché, but it's really how I feel!"

Auden grinned at this. "Perfect execution."

She bowed barely able to stop herself from laughing. "Now that we're back and it's dinner time. I'm going to prepare dinner for you."

"Chi-Chi—

"And I won't take no for an answer!"

She looked at him challengingly and something told him that it wouldn't be in his best interest to decline. "Well then, welcome to my very small apartment home."

Auden wasn't sure if Aster was home yet, but he soon got his answer when he opened the door and found Aster and Jensen sitting quite closely together on the couch watching television. It gave him quite the surprise.

"Oh hey, Dad. Hey—" she stopped abruptly when she finally noticed Chi-Chi. Her expression immediately soured. "Who is she?"

"I'm Chi-Chi," she said as she closed the door behind herself. "And I'd appreciate it if you speak directly to me if you have any questions."

"Well, you still haven't answered my question," Aster snapped.

"Aster, please," Auden said wearily, seeing the sparks fly.

"I told you my name," Chi-Chi said haughtily.

"She's Gohan's mom—she's friends with Bulma," Jensen said speaking up just as wearily as Auden felt at the moment.

"Oh well, you two better not be up to anything," Aster cautioned.

"And who are you to tell two adults what to do, little girl?"

"I'm his daughter and I have every right to—

"Every right to—

"I could tell you to leave if I want—

"I could tell you to meet the bottom of my shoe!"

He could suddenly feel increasing gusts of wind around Chi-Chi and the temperature started rising as they both continued to argue and raise their voices. It was all giving him a major headache, but he had no idea what to do. Jensen was dragging Aster away down the hall much to his relief. It wasn't until the door slammed to her room that the tension began to dissipate. Chi-Chi had moved further into the house as Aster was being dragged away.

"The balls on that girl!" she shouted. "I swear!"

Auden sighed wearily. "Apologies for the introduction—that was Aster as you must have learned. I'll talk to her."

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Here I was thinking you were exaggerating before." She seemed to perk up after this. "Anyway! Let's start dinner!"

She was already racing into the kitchen. Auden was certain he'd never let someone new have so much access to his place in such a short amount of time. He thought he'd be panicking by now, but it all seemed somehow routine and inevitable. Maybe he was simply too tired to make a fuss. He could already hear the clanking of pots and pans. She had no idea what he had in the refrigerator and yet she felt confident that she could make something for four people.

"Need any help?" he called out.

"Nope, I'm fine. Dinner will be out in thirty!" she yelled back.

Far be it that he interrupt her flow. With a shrug, he took refuge in the small couch nearby. Already, he was dozing off again that is until he heard new footsteps. He hoped it wasn't Aster coming to wreak havoc. He peered at the newcomer with one eye.

"Hey," the boy said shyly.

"Hey," Auden said back quickly.

"I'm Jensen, by the way."

"So I gathered," Auden said with a yawn. "I hope Aster hasn't been giving you too much trouble."

"No, not at all," Jensen said shaking his head vigorously. "N-No sir. She's really fun to hang out with. She's usually a lot more laid back than this. I don't know what happened."

"Laid back?" Auden said wondering if they were talking about the same person. "If you say so. Isn't a bit late to be out?"

"It doesn't matter when I get home," he said haughtily.

"Ah, the rebellious type then? I should have known."

"That's not—well, you wouldn't understand."

Auden sat up a little straighter in the couch and looked at him squarely. He was a very effeminate looking boy preferring to wear white ribbons in his long, glossy black hair, deep red loose hanging rose earrings, and a crimson clothed choker. He was quite fair skin with long dark lashes and deep dark eyes. His clothing consisted of a turquoise blouse tied up in the front and tight-fitting jeans. Somehow it made sense that Aster would be attracted to him though he couldn't quite put his reasoning into words.

"I suppose it's complicated, right?"

"Are you teasing me?"

"Take it as you will. Well, glad to finally meet you."

"And you too, sir."

"You can drop the 'sir'. I hardly feel like I deserve the respect. How is she doing?"

"She's just upset about—well, she thinks you're dating that woman now."

"If I was, do you think it makes sense for her to be upset about it?"

"Well…Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"The way she described it. I don't know if it's a good idea."

"Of course you're taking her side."

Jensen frowned at this, "I'm not an idiot. I know she's overreacting a little."

"A little? Hm, the bias is quite strong. That's alright."

"Are you going to reprimand me now? Just like adults love to do all the time?"

"You do know that Aster is an adult, right?"

"I know. She's older than she looks."

"And how old are you?" he asked quizzically.

"I don't have an age. It doesn't work the same as humans."

"Sure, kid," he said successfully stopping himself from laughing.

"It's not a joke," he said angrily. "I don't have an age. I don't have any parents. I'm whatever I want myself to be."

"Is that right?"

His frown seemed to deepen.

"Then tell me. Who are you?"

Jensen seemed upset at first, but then slowly opened his mouth to answer. Before he said anything, he closed his mouth again and became pensive. "I haven't—I'll let you know when I have a good answer," he said finally.

"I'll be all ears."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm certainly interested in someone my daughter chooses to spend so much of her time with."

Jensen observed him quietly. "It's hard to get a read on you. Your thoughts seem shrouded in fog."

Though Auden was confused at this, he simply let the matter rest as Jensen made his way across the room back to Aster. It was probably for the best. If anything, the boy seemed to be harboring more baggage than what he was willing to deal with at the moment. He allowed himself to doze off for a while longer until Chi-Chi was shouting that the food was ready.

"Hey, sorry to leave like this, but I can't stay. Gohan's really worried."

"That's alright—you already did more than enough. I'll save some food for you."

"Don't bother," she said dismissively. "I have so much at home." Chi-Chi made her way quickly to the front door.

"Well, thank you. I could call you a ride, if you want."

"I'll be fine." She turned back to look at him. "I keep thinking about what happened at the park. When you've recovered, come call me again. I hope I didn't do more harm than good."

Something about what she said reminded him of his pills which he'd forgotten to take hours ago. He didn't feel like taking them, but more than that he still felt normalized. It was strange. "I'll call you regardless," he said with the beginnings of a grin.

She shook her head and then smiled briefly before turning the handle on the door. "Good night, Auden."

"Good night."

Auden had no idea how she was making it back home all in one night. She didn't have a cell phone to call anyone and she'd refused his help. Maybe he should just follow her advice and not worry about it. Clearly, she knew what she was doing better than him likely.

Jensen followed by Aster finally decided to show up just as he was making his way over to the kitchen to see what masterpiece Chi-Chi had created. The counter was overflowing with food—he wondered how she'd managed to make dinner look so full with so few ingredients. There was no way they'd make it through it all. He'd likely have a freezer and refrigerator filled with leftover.

Aster appeared to have calmed down by the time he finished setting the table, but he wasn't holding his breath for an apology. He wondered if he should have made a bigger deal about it. Seeing as it was two against one, it was probably a fool's errand.

"There's no way you made this," Aster said grudgingly as she managed to completely stock up her plate.

"It's on par with Bunny's cooking," Jensen said piling his plate even higher than hers.

Were the two of them in some sort of competition? He took his usual portions and sat on the other side of the small dining room table.

"Did you take your pills already?" Aster asked moments before Auden could place what was on his fork into his mouth.

"Of course," he lied.

Aster glanced over at Jensen who shook his head as if at a loss.

"I can't read him," Jensen said.

"Great, right when I needed it the most." Her eyes were on him again attempting to bear holes into his skull. "I can't tell if you're lying or not, but I really hope you took your pills this time."

His mouth was already filled with food so he did not answer immediately. "I've already told you once. Besides, didn't I say that I'd be on my best behavior today?"

"You didn't mention you were going anywhere today though," she challenged.

"It was spur of the moment."

"I know," Jensen said brightly, "Why don't you just show us the organizer with the pills."

Auden's eyes narrowed a little as his gaze turned to the child. "No."

"No?" Aster said with a laugh. "Just show us, Dad. Then we can stop making a big deal about it."

"I don't see why I have to. You either believe me or you don't." He continued on his food completely ignoring her annoyed look.

"Seriously?"

He continued to ignore her, but he felt his own annoyance growing.

"Dad," Aster said frustrated as she stood up from the table. She took a step towards him.

Now he did look her way. "If I were you, I wouldn't move any closer."

"You don't scare me," she said matter-of-factly, "And you know I'm just looking out for you, right?" She took another step with a knowing look on her face.

He gave her a hard look. "Sit down," he said acidly. She jumped back at his tone.

"Just do as he says," Jensen said tiredly, "There are some lines you just don't want to cross. Trust me."

His growing annoyance slowly fizzled out as he watched her sit down again. He didn't really think that would work, but he supposed Jensen was proving to be helpful. At this, he thought it was high time he went to bed. As nice as the food was tasting, his appetite simply wasn't there any longer and he wasn't sure he could stomach sharing the same table as the two know-it-alls. It was becoming nerve-racking.

"What? Where are you going? You haven't finished your food," Aster protested.

"Think I'll just call it a night," he said with a sigh. "Aster, make sure you clean everything."

"But—what about your plate? You didn't put it up," she said to his now turned form.

"I'm sure you can figure out what to do with that. It better be cleaned up by tomorrow morning."

She continued to protest, but he simply ignored her. Usually, he would indulge her. In fact, he always indulged her and he always caved to her demands, but he simply did not feel like it. He felt no obligation to do so. Maybe her new boyfriend could help her out.

"I don't know what's gotten into him," he heard Aster say loudly.

"Let's just clean it up. I think you'd better leave him alone tonight," Jensen answered.

Auden couldn't hear the rest of what was said, but he didn't care. It sounded like he'd get some peace and quiet tonight. Though he closed the door, he could eventually hear the sounds of dishes being washed and aluminum foil being rolled out. Music to his ears. It was like a sweet lullaby which finally coaxed him into sleep. He thought he might rest for the entire night, but it was not to be so.

At some point, he climbed from under the covers as the temperature became too warm for him. He tried various positions, but he was utterly uncomfortable and his covers were becoming soaked with his sweat. He probably had a fever. Maybe he was coming down with a cold. It wouldn't be the first time. Something felt far more intense however. There seemed to be pressure building up somewhere from within. It eventually became too much to even pretend like he was asleep. He sat up in bed wondering what he should do next. It was simply too hot to bear. Perhaps a cold shower was in order. The very thought of it sent him scrambling out the room into the bathroom so that he could feel some modicum of relief. He turned it on the coldest setting to no avail. Even as the ice-cold droplets hit his skin, the water began sizzling off and the bathroom became filled with water vapor. He remained there until he could no longer feel the water reaching him.

"What the hell," he said under his breath, looking into the mirror wondering if he might find something in his reflection.

The mirror was much too foggy to even see through. He had to wipe it off a few times, but he was presented with himself and nothing out of order. He knew that wasn't the case though. He knew he felt ready to burst. He was already beginning to tremble just like before. Fearful now, he ran back into his room and grabbed some clothes before escaping the confines of the apartment and nearly tripping down the stairs into the parking lot. Everywhere he looked there were cars and more cars—there were simply too many people around.

He remembered a grassy area behind the apartment building that rolled into a manmade pond. Maybe he could go there. He wasn't sure what he was planning to do, but now that he felt sufficiently out of the way of people, he simply released what meager hold he had over the energy that was already boiling. It was much more intense this time as it tore through him quickly. In fact, it was a bit more painful. Not painful in a way that felt traumatizing but in a way that felt good and relieving. It was enough to make him cry out in pain and joy. He heard his own voice echoing in the skies—he was probably waking everyone up, but it was also in the dead of night when most were already deeply asleep.

He saw a fist come out of nowhere and he evaded it instinctively. It had been a slow incoming punch. Surprising, but easy to avoid. Then another one came at him. Someone was trying to knock him out. He could barely see through the haze of yellow, but eventually his vision cleared enough to look upon the intruder. He'd seen that person before—the man with spiky hair. Auden eventually found himself trying to dodge all of his attacks—a feat that didn't seem too difficult considering how slow the man was moving. In fact, the entire world around him seemed to be moving slowly. Auden didn't want this to keep up for too much longer, but he didn't know how to stop him. Then, in the blink of an eye, the attacks suddenly became swift and the spiky haired man was glowing yellow. He cried out in actual pain when a punch landed squarely in his gut and he fell to the ground clawing and grasping at the ample grass. He'd never felt anything like it. Tears sprang to his eyes quickly and eventually he was sobbing uncontrollably. He vomited everything he'd managed to eat for dinner.

"Will you get a grip already!" came the rough voice of the familiar man.

Auden couldn't even begin to form words as he curled and whimpered at the enduring pain left by one attack. Was he dying?

"Hey! Are you listening? Don't you dare pass out."

He opened his eyes slowly to look at the imposing man. "Wh-Who are you?"

"Vegeta—the guy from Bulma's lab. That was you last time, wasn't it?"

"At the…at the lab?" Auden struggled to say.

"No, in Satan City. That burst of energy."

Auden started coughing as something caught in his throat. As fluid came forth, he realized that it was his own blood. He was definitely dying.

"Shit," Vegeta said just loud enough for him to hear. "Look at me," he ordered.

Auden looked at him frightened though his vision was blurry.

"Don't die, alright?"

"S-Sure," he said just as he passed out.


	8. Chi-Chi's Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chi-Chi needs a break.

Vegeta stood in one place for hours that night. After bringing the unconscious Auden back to Bulma's property, he placed him in the medical ward. Bulma was already up having been awakened by Vegeta's sudden departure. The sharp spike in ki had roused him quickly despite a long day at Tien's dojo. Even though it was peacetimes, he was forever sensitive to such spikes and it had saved him on plenty occasions. One never knew when someone might try to kill them in their sleep with a well-placed ki blast. That wasn't the case this time. He sensed someone from far off with dizzying amounts of ki being emitted all at once. He'd never felt anything like it, at least not this uncontrolled.

"Vegeta, what is it?" Bulma asked alarmed as he'd sat up in bed.

"Something's not right. It might be trouble. Just wait here."

With that, after throwing on something presentable, he flew through the window and sped off towards the source. Whoever it was, their ki level was increasing exponentially in a way that might end up killing that person. Perhaps it was intentional. One could in theory do this as some sort of kamikaze attack, but there didn't seem to be signs of struggle, just one person powering up. He didn't get very many answers by the time he arrived. He recognized the man immediately after he forced him out of his unstable state. He seemed out of sorts so there was no way to interrogate him. He'd wait until the man was conscious again. Bulma had seen to the bruising around his abdomen. Though Auden had been coughing up blood before, he appeared to have repaired the most grievous injuries according to Bulma's scanner. Perhaps his own energy had naturally switched to self-preservation.

Vegeta's eyes were closed as he paid special attention to Auden and what he might do next. His energy levels were ramping up again and he was still unconscious. It didn't seem like such a great combination. He heard a groan from Auden. Vegeta finally opened his eyes watching as sweat began to bead down the other's face and he was quite clearly uncomfortable, turning from one side to the next. It wasn't too much longer before his eyes whipped open as if he'd been forced to do so. Though it was subtle, he could see him shivering under the mounting stress as he sat up. He already seemed to be bursting at the seams.

"Again? It's happening again," the man said under his breath.

"I see you're finally awake," Vegeta said drawing Auden's attention.

He looked at him fearfully. "What do you want?"

"I'm not going to hit you again, if that's what's you're worried about—unless you give me no other choice. Now what were you trying to do back there?"

"I-I don't know. I have no idea what's happening. I don't know why I'm here. Just…Where am I exactly?"

"I took you to Bulma's place. It's a lot safer and less people about."

Auden was already drenched in sweat and Vegeta could tell that he was moments away from unleashing his formidable aura again. "I have to get out of here," he said anxiously.

"No, let's not have a repeat of last time. Look at me," he ordered.

Auden paused and followed instructions. "What?"

"You have to focus on something, anything. You just have to regain control."

"I could just gather it all into one place like last time and just…"

"You mean a ki blast? That won't do any good. This is your power. Even if you expend it, it will come back again eventually, as you can see."

"Then what do I do?" he asked angrily.

"I know it's easier said than done, but you just have to calm down," Vegeta said with arms crossed. "That's all. Try to bring your energy under your control."

"I can't—

"You can, if you want to."

"But I tried already and it hasn't worked."

"Try again."

"I already tried over and over again. It doesn't work. I don't know what to do," he said desperately.

"It's not the end of the world—

"Please," Auden began slowly. Vegeta watched as tears started forming—it was difficult to watch. "Please just end it. It would be easy for you, wouldn't it?"

"I'm not going to get rid of you," Vegeta said with finality in his tone.

"It's alright. I promise. I don't really have anything to live for. I just don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to keep doing this."

"This is ridiculous," Vegeta snapped. "You won't get anywhere if you don't actually try."

"Listen, I will destroy this entire complex, if you don't just get on with it. I know you could do it. Just punch me a little harder than last time…"

Vegeta advanced on the desperate man and Auden bowed his head in defeat likely expecting Vegeta to do as he wanted. Instead, Vegeta quickly knocked him out before his energy grew out of control. "Bulma," he called out.

She wasn't too far away and she'd likely heard everything that had been said. "You rang?"

"Do you have something that can keep him unconscious for a while?"

"I swear I'm starting to feel more like a nurse than an engineer these days. Yeah, I have something," she said as she went over to a case that contained vials of medicine and a device to administer it.

Vegeta watched as she inserted the mechanical syringe into one of the vials and drew a small amount of the liquid.

"First off, why on Earth did you hit him that hard before?" Bulma asked as she looked for a location on his neck to insert the syringe.

"I misjudged his strength. The way he was reacting to my attacks, I thought he had some experience fighting. I didn't realize how much of a paper tiger he was until I was able to land a hit."

"Well, I could have told you that had I known who it was. I heard him…" her voice trailed as her voice became quiet, "he wanted you to kill him." By then she'd finished giving him the medicine that would keep him under. Slowly, she turned back to Vegeta. She wore a pained expression. "I didn't know—I guess I kind of suspected—that things had gotten so bad for him. I've never seen anyone give up so easily over the first sign of trouble."

"It happens," Vegeta said unable to think of anything comforting to say. He didn't want to tell her that he'd seen that look before on other's faces many times before. He could tell the difference between someone being dramatic versus actually lacking all hope. Auden had been serious. He'd been willing to surrender his life just like that. Perhaps things might change the next time around, but this certainly couldn't have been the first time he'd thought along those lines. He'd likely seen a convenient opportunity and attempted to use it to his advantage.

"So do you have any idea what's happening?" Bulma asked changing the subject.

"I've never seen this in humans, but I suppose it was always possible that one could simply be born with a higher than normal ki level. Humans aren't naturally aware of their ki. They can go their whole lives and never have accessed it. It has to be pointed out to them somehow. I don't know if this has to do with the fact that he first used his ki much later on in life. Perhaps it's simply dangerous to wait that long."

"He was here helping me at the lab not too long ago. He seemed normal, well, at least ki-wise. Do you think he did all this on his own one day?"

"I doubt it. Someone taught him and it was likely Chi-Chi because she was nearby the first time I felt that spike."

"Chi-Chi? I don't know why she'd be involved with this kind of thing. I can barely get her to come out of the house and now she's just randomly teaching people about ki?"

"We don't know all the details," Vegeta said wearily. "I'll talk to her. I think the main issue is that his base level is far beyond average and he's not quite strong enough to regulate it. The mind is out-of-sync with the body."

"As soon as you bring 'the mind' into it, I don't know if he even stands a chance. You know he has to take a million and one pills just to be somewhat coherent."

"I don't think any of that matters."

"How do you know?" Bulma argued back.

"I don't see why it would. If you think every fighter I've met proficient in ki was somehow sound of mind…" Vegeta snorted at this and decided to leave the statement hanging. "I think it's more to do with the lack of experience and confidence. We probably don't have too much longer before he wakes, I'll see what Chi-Chi knows about any of this."

Vegeta left her in the room with Auden. Perhaps her presence might be less antagonistic than the guy who'd nearly killed him before. Besides, he didn't really think he'd be able to speak with Chi-Chi. Her disdain for him wasn't really a secret. Perhaps it would have been better to have Bulma get her on the phone.

"Hello?" came Gohan's tired voice upon calling the Son's house phone. It was in the early hours of the morning.

"Put Chi-Chi on the phone."

He waited for some protest from Gohan, but it didn't come. "I don't know what this is about, but I'll see if she wants to talk."

After a few excruciating minutes of growing impatience, Chi-Chi finally came to the phone. "Yes?" she said in wary tones.

"What do you know about Auden? Did you teach him how to access his ki?"

"Look, Bulma told me about how she was worried about him and I was just trying to do my part. I wasn't teaching him how to fight or anything, I just wanted him to be more in tuned with his own energy. When Gohan showed me that, it made life a little more bearable. I thought I'd do the same for Auden. I didn't expect any of that to happen. How could I? Is he okay? I felt something similar earlier."

"He's not okay, but I just wanted to learn some more details. In your opinion, do you think this happened because of his age? His ki has been dormant for so long that it simply presents itself like this?"

"No," Chi-Chi said, "You can't really think that's case. That would mean everybody past the age of fifty is a ticking time bomb. Ki doesn't work like that. Whether you use it or not, it isn't ever 'dormant'. We're just not aware that it's there in the first place."

"So that means…"

"Mind over matter. He was perfectly fine until he knew it was there. Before this, he was perfectly able to control its presence despite how much of it he happened to have. He just has to get used to it being there and maybe some physical training could help with that."

"My thoughts exactly."

Chi-Chi snorted at this. "Right. I'm coming over there. You might just end up making things worse."

"Do what you want," he said with a frown before hanging up on her.

She was likely going to come whether he wanted her to or not. Maybe it was for the best. In a snap, he was rushing back into the room as he felt another startling spike in ki—Auden was awake again. The effects of the sedative wore off quickly, counteracted by the presence of immense ki. He paused in the doorway noticing that Bulma was talking to him, maybe she could get through to him in a way that he couldn't.

"It's me Bulma, remember?" she said in friendly tones.

This seemed to have the opposite effect on him. "I know who the hell you are," he growled at her. The golden aura around him seemed to intensify and Bulma shrank back in fear.

Vegeta was there in half a second placing himself in front of Bulma. "Just get out of here Bulma, it's not safe."

Auden's eyes were glued to her and he watched as she made a quick escape. He seemed ready to pounce.

"You're dealing with me now," Vegeta said trying to get his attention. Auden's eyes still seemed to be following her movements even though she was well out of eyesight. "Auden!" Vegeta barked.

Slowly, his eyes returned to Vegeta. "What?" His tone had returned to normal.

"Do you still want to die?"

His expression became enigmatic. "I don't know why you have to drag this out. I don't see any other choice."

"You're doing it right now. You haven't managed to destroy the whole compound."

"For now and just barely. Not for much longer. If I could just do the same thing I did last time…"

"I told you—you can't keep doing that. It will just keep coming back. You know that's not a solution."

"Then what else is there?" he demanded frustrated. "What do you want me to do? I don't know how else to say it."

He seemed marginally calmer than before. Perhaps he could hold out long enough to not completely self-destruct. "Follow me," Vegeta said.

Auden looked at him questioningly but didn't voice any misgivings as he simply climbed off the cot. Feeling such immense power nearby easily put Vegeta on edge. It usually meant the promise of a challenging duel. His expectations had already been subverted since the moment he'd taken him down with one measly fist.

Vegeta took the man outside much further from the building they'd just exited. It was cool and breezy that night—perfect for a little impromptu duel albeit not one he would likely get any enjoyment from.

"Now, I want you to fight me," Vegeta stated plainly. "Just use your instincts."

"I've never fought anyone a day in my life."

"Surely, you know how to at least throw a punch."

"In theory."

"Alright," Vegeta said with crossed arms. "I'm waiting."

Auden wore a confused look on his face. "So…just to clarify. You want me to punch you?"

"Yes," Vegeta said impatiently, "And I'll retaliate. That's how fights work. I won't hit you as hard as last time."

He seemed unconcerned with his last remark. It was likely because he still had a death wish. At the present, he seemed to be handling his ki well enough though it was still much too high and his aura continued roaring around him. He wished he'd get on with it already. Auden stepped forward finally and unleashed the most pathetic punch he'd ever bore witness to aimed at his chest. Vegeta had to stop himself from swatting it away.

"Is that all you can muster?" Vegeta asked flabbergasted. "Harder next time."

"Any harder and I might break something."

"The guy who wants me to kill him outright is scared of a little pain?"

"Death is a lot swifter than suffering in agonizing pain."

"Harder!" Vegeta barked trying to get a rise out of him.

This didn't seem to work; the man seemed more perturbed than anything else. He struck out again, but Vegeta could hardly register the force behind it.

Vegeta huffed at this. "I forgot—humans and their fragile bones. It's a wonder they can even handle the gravity on their own planet! Are you really this weak? That was a pitiful display!"

Auden appeared unaffected by his insults. "I fail to see how this helps other than being a distraction."

"Again," Vegeta demanded.

Auden gave him a hard look, but then complied. As if to spite him, this new punch seemed just as featherweight as the last. This time, Vegeta retaliated and Auden quickly evaded much to his chagrin. It was just like before at the apartments. Auden seemed able to react much faster than what his actual physical strength would suggest. In many ways, his speed was on par with the ki level he was emitting, but everything else didn't make much sense. Vegeta held back his strength to excruciating levels as he went on the offense against Auden. He could have easily ascended to ensure that he got a hit in, but he didn't think it was important that he did, though it would have helped his slightly bruised pride. In this way, their mock fight continued and Vegeta forced him to react faster and more frequently. He even left obvious openings for Auden to throw a few hits of his own. In the first few instances, Auden didn't take the chance, but as the fight drew on, he finally struck Vegeta again. Every hit that Auden connected was just as disappointing as the previous one. In fact, Vegeta felt the entire duel was pale and uninteresting. It would have been embarrassing for anyone to watch—that's if they could keep up with the speed in which it was occurring.

After close to ten minutes, Auden's stamina gave out. That became quite obvious when Vegeta was able to get in a few gentle hits and his aura dissipated. Vegeta called it quits afterwards. The entire exchange left a bad taste in his mouth—he was glad it was over for sanity reasons. Auden was breathing hard as he sank to the ground in exhaustion.

"Do you see now?" Vegeta asked.

Auden took a few moments to respond waiting for his heavy breathing to subside somewhat. "See what?" he asked looking at him quizzically.

"Your ki is far more controlled right now and you didn't have to expend it."

Realization came to his face. "Y-You're right," he said in surprise. "I can still feel it, but…it's not like how it was before."

"Remember that feeling. I don't think you should have further issues in that regard, but, in your case, I suppose things are a bit unpredictable."

"I think I should be fine now," he said in a knowing voice.

Vegeta supposed that he would know better than anyone if that was the case so he didn't push him on this point. "Now what do you plan to do next? I think receiving adequate physical training would be best."

"I don't see why I would ever want to do such a thing."

It wasn't a surprising response, but it was depressing all the same. Of course he wouldn't have any motivation to pursue combat training. Everyone, especially humans, always struggled with gaining more raw energy. As tenacious and promising as Malachi had been, that was always his downfall no matter how much he trained. Were it not for unforeseen circumstances, Malachi's ki level would have been far less than what it ended up being. Here was someone who had already bypassed that step and only had the fairly elementary task of increasing his own strength. It seemed wasted on one who was so sedentary and likely set in their ways.

These days he spent his time training other humans at Tien's dojo—humans starting off with decent fighting abilities and keen instincts. It was different training them than it had been with Malachi. He had a better sense in what he should be teaching and how it should be done. There were less distractions and they were fully willing students who ate up his every word and took his lessons seriously. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like the attention. He quickly recognized the flaws in the way he'd trained Malachi. He used that template and greatly improved on instruction. Vegeta had likely put Malachi's life at risk in most sessions from the very beginning forcing him to train until collapse and to continue afterwards after a slight recovery. Humans could not recover in the same way Saiyans did and, in fact, it was detrimental to their health to make them train that way. They needed rest and, depending on the fitness level, that rest could extend to a couple of days or else training ended up doing more harm than good. The same could be said about Saiyans, but to a much lesser extent. In some instances, it was even the opposite since Saiyans could bounce back from injuries faster with much more strength than before. In short, humans did not gain anything from brutal training tactics. There was no fast tracking, simply slow and steady strength training.

Giving up on training Malachi when they were just barely acquainted was regretful and something he couldn't stop thinking about. Malachi was his first human student and he couldn't help but compare every single other one to him. By now, Vegeta was sure his skills would have been quite formidable and his ki level would have followed in suit. Maybe he would have come up with more interesting techniques or even figured out Instant Transmission. He would have challenged him to more duels and impressed him with his overwhelming confidence. Going down this line of thinking, however, always put him into a somber mood. The students he taught were confident and also respectful. While that was nice, he found himself longing for one of them to talk back, to not take him so seriously, to claim that they'll one day best him, to make him believe for just a few moments that Earth's denizens could figure out how to protect themselves once the Saiyans were no more.

Looking at Auden now, he saw wasted potential. For the second time in his life, he thought he'd found a human who could certainly surpass him. In reality, it was too good to be true as always.

"So that's it, huh," Vegeta said with a frown. "You're fine with being a weakling for the rest of your life."

This barely registered with Auden who had now laid down flat on the lawn likely waiting for his heart to stop beating so hard. "It doesn't bother me either way."

Vegeta wasn't sure how to get a rise out of him. Was there any way to make him interested in training? At this point, it seemed like a fool's errand. "And you would throw your life away at a moment's notice if you thought it was convenient."

"I try not to make too many people aware of that fact," he said wearily, "Or else they'll keep bringing it up."

"Being able to defend yourself would make that much harder."

Auden gave him no response.

"Are you fine with leaving yourself so vulnerable? Living your life completely at the mercy of everyone else unable to carve out your own path as you see fit."

"Is this the sort of macho shit you tell yourself every night as a nice little bedtime story?" he asked drily. Auden sat up to look at him.

Vegeta was caught off guard by his tone, but it was a welcome change. He huffed at this. "Did I strike a nerve? Good."

"There's only so much BS I can take," Auden said looking away. "And you're making a lot of assumptions."

"From where I stand, it seems pretty accurate." Hearing Auden's heart skip a beat gave Vegeta all the evidence he needed.

"Bulma was never good at keeping things to herself."

"She's told me very little about you aside from needing your expertise on her ongoing project. You're simply too much of an open book."

"Right," Auden said not buying his bluff. "How is that going, by the way?—her quest to find the dragon balls."

"She's no stranger to finding them. This just has the added step of finding a specific planet. As far as I know, the radar is operational and is currently being put to good use."

"Well, I hope she finds what she's looking for. It still seems a bit like fantasy."

"Luckily for us, it doesn't depend on whether you believe it or not."

"Isn't that often the case with reality?" he answered nonchalantly. "I just think it's foolish to get one's hope up about something that's highly unlikely. Even if I saw someone alive after I knew for certain that they were dead, I would still be dubious. It bends the laws of physics and one should always be cautious."

"I see there's no convincing you, but I'm not here to do that."

"No, you're not. You're still trying to convince me to do your silly training. I'm not interested. End of story."

Vegeta closed his eyes in irritation. "So be it. I suppose if there's evidence of your kind of power among humans, then there are others out there."

Auden gave no audible response to this. Instead, he made himself a bit more comfortable further spreading out his legs. Tension had long since dissipated from him and he seemed somewhat recovered from their little spar. Vegeta left him where he was since he no longer had business with him. If he wanted to stay, he was sure Bulma would accommodate him. If he didn't, then that was his prerogative.

He flew off for the medical ward where he still sensed Bulma to tell her the good news. Auden was no longer a danger to himself. Though everything was back to normal, Vegeta couldn't help but think that he could have done something more to convince him. Along with that, his doubts about bringing Malachi back were amplified after hearing the certainty in Auden's voice when he spoke about Malachi's death. Vegeta knew better. He'd seen people die and arise again plenty of times. Why then had his words troubled him so much? Why couldn't he shake his own doubts about this turning out in his favor?

* * *

Auden was glad when the spiky haired man finally left him in peace. To engage with someone so energetic and forceful was tiring. The sort of light he saw behind his eyes as he asked about training was troubling to say the least. Did he see some worth in him that he did not? He didn't want anyone to have such expectations for him. The possibility of failure became that much more likely. If there was one thing he could tell about the other, it was that he likely put a lot of stock in competition and raw strength.

"Auden?"

He looked back in surprise at the sound of his own name being spoken by the last person he thought he'd see that day. It was Chi-Chi standing a few yards away in her usual pink and green outfit.

"How did you get here?"

"Does it matter? I was worried about you and I came as fast as I could."

"Well, it must be some sort of miracle. I'm glad you're here."

"You look exhausted," she stated as she walked over and then took a seat next to him. "Someone must have forced you to run for more than a few seconds."

Auden chuckled at this. "Something like that."

"It was Vegeta wasn't it?"

"The really muscular guy with spiky hair?"

"A perfect description," she grinned. "I'm guessing he never introduced himself. Sounds just like him. The fact that you survived an encounter with him is pretty incredible."

"He's not so scary."

"Oh? Is that right?" Chi-Chi said amused. "No need to try to impress me. His mere voice is intimidating."

"I find women to be far more frightening."

"Typical. Spoken like someone who doesn't hang out with the opposite sex very often. Are we also hard to understand?"

"It's nothing like that. I do have a daughter, if you remember, who until recently rarely left my side. It's just from…personal experience. People like Vegeta are more straight-forward and far less insidious."

"It's a wonder you managed to deal with me for an entire day," she said in wonderment, "with opinions like that."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just a generalized view. Individuals are different."

"No offense taken. At least you're being honest. How did we get this sidetracked? Now I have a burning question that would completely derail this whole thing. First of all, how are you doing? Do you still feel like—well, you know…"

"Not anymore thanks to Vegeta. I don't know how to explain it, but after exerting myself, I was just able to control what he calls 'ki'. I didn't even realize when it happened. Now it seems so natural."

"I think it was just because you weren't used to it and to have such a high base level didn't help matters. I knew it had to be something simple though. It was always there, you just weren't aware of it until now."

"That's the strange part. Ki seems like quite an interesting concept. If it was always there though, why is it that I never felt like this before?"

"More research required, I guess. I'm no expert. When I was first aware of my own ki, it definitely boosted my self-confidence. I was hoping it would do the same for you."

"You could say that," he agreed thinking back on how dinner had gone last night.

The full ramifications of his ki awareness had not yet been discovered he suspected. In the same moment that he was perfectly fine with Vegeta finishing him off, he felt extremely powerful and the feeling of sweet power flowing through his veins was exhilarating—it was a strange dichotomy. He knew at some point, that he would want to feel that again, but he had a feeling that Vegeta would somehow know the very moment he did something like that and show up once again.

"That's all I really wanted. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?" he asked curiously. "What else did you want?"

"Like I said last time at the park. I'd like to do something other than staying at the house all the time and it's always good to get in some exercise on a daily basis."

"You're right. It's not good being inside all the time. I don't know if I'm too keen on jogging though."

Chi-Chi sighed at this. "Just a little jogging? And it doesn't have to be the only thing we do. I have quite a few things I could show you that's way less torture."

"I might have to take you up on that."

"You won't regret it," she said with a smile. "For some reason, being around you—I just want to reclaim my beauty and shape, if you know what I mean."

Auden looked at her amused. "Sounds like a midlife crisis."

Chi-Chi looked at him with pursed lips. "You're going to help me too," she insisted. "And tell me more about these 'de-aging' products."

"I'd be more than happy to."

"And please don't tell me that 'you're good the way you are' crap that Gohan always goes on about."

"I wasn't," he said confused, "I thought that was already obvious. I meant it when I said you were beautiful, but I would never try to stand in the way of someone who wants to better themselves."

"Oh, you're making me blush," she said with reddening cheeks. "How embarrassing!"

Auden couldn't hold back his widening smile. He knew he wasn't helping matters, but she was becoming increasingly easy on the eyes as she held both hands on her cheeks trying to cover up the evidence.

"You know exactly what you're doing," she accused him loudly.

He gave her the most innocent look he could muster. "I have no idea what you're talking about." That part was actually true considering he'd just restated the same compliment from earlier. Maybe she was taking him more seriously right now. Not to mention the plethora of compliments she'd already given him. "What about that other question you had?" he asked changing the subject so that she might recover. It had the opposite effect, however.

"It's a silly question come to think about it," she said quickly, "I don't know why I even brought it up!"

"So your burning question is now just silly? Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"I could, if you really wanted me to."

Chi-Chi grinned at him. "Alright, I've decided I want to know. I don't care how strange it sounds. We're both adults here. It's just important to me."

Auden was all ears.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before?"

That was a strange question, but he decided to answer truthfully. "I have."

She looked relieved when he said this and that confused him further. "Good. I just had to make sure."

"It was only once and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I'd rather have nothing further to do with it."

"Oh," she said surprised. "I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you just haven't—

"No," he said cutting across her. "Once was too many. I knew before then that I wouldn't enjoy such things."

"O-Oh."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Well, yeah," she said as if it was obvious.

"Is that a 'dealbreaker' for you?"

She looked at him thoughtfully. "No, not really, I suppose. Let's just see where this all goes. Besides, I wasn't aware I was part of some kind of deal."

Auden grinned at this recognizing a rephrasing of his own words. He was always upfront about such things. Being any other way only complicated things further from his experience. Besides, it was better to not waste time on people who would judge him poorly due to his natural leanings.

"Well," she said climbing back to her feet with some difficulty—Auden helped her as he followed in suit. "We can't stay out here forever. Never know when Vegeta or Bulma might track us down and I'm not in the mood for either of them."

"Same."

"I know before I was in a rush to leave, but do you mind if I stayed with you for the time being?"

"I wouldn't mind at all. Are you sure though? It seemed like your family really needed you."

"Oh there'll be fine. Consider this my impromptu vacation."

"And what brought this on?" he asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just felt like it. Seeing you alive and well, is apparently quite motivating."

Auden wasn't sure he understood her reasoning, but he simply took it at face value. "Unfortunately, I didn't drive here. I suppose I can call a cab and—

"No, let's just walk. It's really nice out today."

He looked at her wearily. "It'll take hours getting home."

"You're not scared, are you? We're just taking a nice leisurely stroll. If you really feel tired, then we can get a ride, but I just thought you'd like to walk with me. We can talk about whatever."

"I'll try it out for a while, crazy woman, but I doubt I'd make it all the way."

"We shall see," she said knowingly.

The two of them started off from the Briefs' residence and soon made their way down the nearest sidewalk. Auden had never gone home on foot, but he knew exactly where to go without having to refer to a GPS which was all for the better. Soon he became far too engaged in conversation with Chi-Chi to have paid much attention to his cell phone or the time spent walking.

* * *

It felt as if no time had passed at all as Chi-Chi stepped back into Auden's cozy apartment. She couldn't quite say if he felt the same. At the very least, he wasn't complaining about it. His place boasted much smaller quarters than what she was used to, but she realized that she didn't really require much space and such a place would be child's play to maintain.

After rushing back home earlier last night, she'd gotten a stern lecture from Gohan about staying out so late with no way to track her down. Midway through his self-righteous tirade, she began to chew him out over it. Thinking back, it was strange hearing the same words she'd told him when he was younger whenever he came home late turned back on her out of genuine concern. She wondered if she sounded just as annoying as he did when she'd yelled at him. The tables had turned it seemed. More and more, it felt like he was taking care of her instead of the other way around. These days, she depended on him to take care of the entire family monetarily. This meant that he had more of a say in her day-to-day life. It was becoming stifling. She felt more like a maid than anything else. Hardly anyone stopped to wonder how exactly she felt about the situation. As long as she wasn't inconvenient to anyone, all was well.

Then she'd gotten a call from Vegeta and one thing just led to another. Soon she was back in Auden's company where she felt the most alive. The singular attention that he gave her felt uncanny, but she knew she was becoming entranced by it. Returning back home seemed less and less appealing until she decided that she wouldn't. Whether Auden would take her in or not, she did not plan on coming back home anytime soon.

They both took turns taking a shower. Chi-Chi noted how immaculate his bathroom was. In fact, she could smell the very recent use of strong cleaning products in the showering area. She vowed she'd keep it the same way she found it. After she stepped in and turned on the steaming water, she stayed in there for much longer than anticipated as tears began running down her cheeks. What was she doing anyway? Why did it feel like she was running away from home? This pleasant feeling that she was allowing herself to indulge in—did she even deserve that?

She stepped out of the now wet area and quickly dried herself leaving all her questions unanswered. Then, like clockwork, she wiped everything down with bleach infused with comet cleanser she'd found in a nearby cabinet before she was thoroughly satisfied. As she left the bathroom with the towel tied around her, she wondered what she would even wear now as she carried the clothes she'd been wearing in her arms.

Chi-Chi found Auden in the living room looking down intently at his phone. He looked up when he finally noticed her nearby.

"Don't worry about your clothes," he said, "I'll wash them later on."

In fact, it was getting towards dawn and neither of them had gotten a proper night's rest. She felt as if her schedule was all over the place.

"Oh, you don't have to do all that," she said with a gracious smile. She was actually relieved and she didn't want to admit that she was glad that he'd taken time to think about such details.

"It's fine," he said waving away her concern, "I was going to do laundry anyway today."

She noticed a neatly folded gray shirt nearby that he now held up to her. With a raised eyebrow, she took it up.

"I thought you might like a change of clothes."

She realized that he was giving her what was likely his own clothes to her. Something about that made her cheeks burn a bit. When she unfolded it, she saw that it was one very large dress shirt. "I can't imagine you even wear this size."

"Well, I don't, but I can finally make use of that gift Aster got me long ago. I couldn't bear to just throw it away when she'd gone out of her way to get it for me."

"Let's see," Chi-Chi said checking the tag on the back, "She thought you wore 2XL."

"Yep. Couldn't tell her any different either," he said clearly amused. "After all, I am two times bigger than her and she thought 2XS looked a little too small. It makes perfect sense."

She snickered at this. "Kids—they really think they know everything."

"Regular geniuses."

It wasn't quite like she would be wearing something that he'd worn many times before, but she appreciated the sentiment. The alternatives of sleeping in a bath towel or worse putting on the same soiled clothes was something she hadn't been looking forward to.

"I would hate for you to have to sleep on the couch—you can use my bed and I'll take the couch."

"I don't see how you'd fare much better than me on a couch, old man," she pointed out.

"You're my guest," he said as if it settled the discussion.

"I'd feel terrible. This is kind of spur of the moment so it's only right that I take the couch," she insisted.

"But then I'd feel terrible, if it ended up that way."

"It's alright, Auden. No need to make a big deal about it," she said as she sat down on the couch beside him.

He looked away for a moment, but then returned his gaze. "How about we just share my bed—it would be big enough for both of us."

Chi-Chi was taken aback by his boldness. Sure, it was the next logical step, but she didn't think he'd openly suggest it. "Well, I suppose it's okay…"

"No cuddling."

"Oh, yeah, of course not," Chi-Chi said with furrowed eyebrows.

"Alright, well, as long as we have an understanding," he said standing up. "If you can excuse me, I'd like to get some sleep in at some point today."

"Yeah, it has been a long day."

She watched him leave, but she didn't follow immediately. A certain giddiness had come over her. They'd be sleeping in the same bed? Was this moving along too quickly? Was she just being silly staying over like this? Was she sending the wrong message to him? It still seemed, however, that they were on the same page—whatever page that might be. She didn't exactly feel in danger around him. To be honest, it would be nice not to have to go to bed alone for a change. It also seemed as if she didn't have to worry about him invading her personal space—they'd cross that bridge if it ever became an issue. But then, did she anticipate doing this often? It was better just to take things one step at a time. Everything seemed relatively harmless now. Why destroy this serenity with worry?

After a few more minutes, Chi-Chi joined him in bed. It was king sized and more than capable of comfortably holding them. She wondered why one person would need such a huge bed. It was so soft and malleable that it hardly moved at all when she laid down on it. She slipped under the covers to gather warmth around her. She peered over at Auden who was already asleep though turned away from her.

Everything was quiet save for his long, deep breaths which became like a lullaby. She closed her eyes and after a while she fell asleep as well. However, it felt like only moments went by when she was roused by the sun. Startled by the position of the sun, she sat up quickly in bed. She only just noticed the digital clock on the nightstand as shock set in. It was a few minutes past noon—she'd never awakened so late before. She'd already wasted over half the day. Then she heard a stomach growling—she thought it was herself for a moment but realized that it was from Auden who seemed utterly unfazed by her antics.

"Auden?" she said testing how close he was to wakefulness.

He laid on his back now, head slightly turned away, but just as deeply asleep as before. She heard another distinct growling noise from him and knew that he was likely famished. It was oddly comforting and reminiscent of the time she spent with her husband only his would have been much louder and he would already be asking when the food was going to be ready.

Deciding that it wasn't worth trying to get him up right now, she climbed out of bed and made a beeline for the kitchen to see what his refrigerator looked like. There were a lot of leftovers from last time. Of course, his food stores hadn't changed much. He seemed to favor vegetables over meat and the shelves were far more sparse than what she was used to. Then again, he was only making things for himself and maybe one other person. After a few moments, she decided on something slightly fancier than usual and began on that, hoping the smell of cooking might finally wake him.

There were no signs of Aster much to her relief, though she'd been fully prepared to deal with the girl. When she was done, she set up the table and made her way back to his bedroom where he'd changed positions. Now his face was buried in the pillow and the covers wrapped more snugly around him. He really didn't want to wake up, it seemed.

"Auden, honey, it's getting pretty late. I made some food."

She waited for his response, but it didn't come. She stepped closer to the bed planning to shake him to wakefulness despite her growing hesitation. Then she heard an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah? I heard you. Just give me a few minutes," he said, barely heard through the pillow.

Chi-Chi stood with crossed arms wondering how long he'd actually been awake. Then she heard his stomach growling again though it was muffled. "Well, it's half past noon and I'm not going to be waiting forever."

He groaned as he turned his head away from the pillow so his voice could be heard clearer. Finally, she was presented with at least one of those dark blue eyes of his. "Someone's chipper today," he noted with sleep still in his voice.

"Someone has to be else we'll never get up today apparently."

"Like I said," he began as he returned to his previous position this time with his head turned away from her, "Just give me a few."

He yawned at this and he seemed far too relaxed and perfectly comfortable in his little spot to give her any hope that he'd actually be getting up anytime soon. Auden truly wasn't accustomed to rigorous activity and yesterday was probably a departure from his usual routine, not to mention going to bed so late. Were it not for the fact that she knew he probably needed sustenance sooner rather than later, she might have just let him be. He was already falling back to sleep. Now that it was the middle of the day, she could see just how peaceful and carefree he looked—a far cry from the worrier she knew him to be.

"Auden," she said a little louder with a huff. "Please—the food's getting cold."

"Uh-hmm," he hummed in response.

She stood watching for a few more seconds finally realizing that she'd hit a brick wall with him. She could go the extra step and shake him to wakefulness, but placing her hands on him seemed somehow wrong and intrusive. She had a feeling he wouldn't like it. With a shrug, she simply left him there and began on her very light meal. To her surprise, moments after she placed the last morsel in her mouth, she was joined by Auden who by then had his phone in hand and eyeglasses back on. He hadn't changed clothes, but he seemed a great deal more alert.

"Would you look at that—he's alive," she said smiling.

"Yeah, well, my stomach wouldn't shut-up."

She looked at him knowingly. "So what was the plan? Sleep the whole day away?"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," he said starting on the now cold plate of food.

"Oh, please, you can't be that tired. We have to do things today. Get out of the house."

He looked at her wearily. "What did you have in mind?"

"Teaching you a few new exercises. We don't have a lot of sun left today so whenever you're ready…"

"So," he began after he finished chewing, "What do you plan to wear today?"

Chi-Chi crossed her arms at this. "Don't worry—I have it all planned out."

"Something tells me that you have nothing planned out and all of this is just spur of the moment."

She opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't feel like engaging in bold-faced lies.

"That's alright. I've already thought about it since I just can't help myself."

"Proud of yourself?"

Auden grinned at her. "It won't take me long to do laundry. Then afterwards maybe we could go shopping."

"You like clothes shopping?" she said not looking forward to the prospects.

"Not particularly, but it's something to do," he said with a shrug.

"Hmm…" Chi-Chi said as she watched him finishing off his plate. "There's a lot of things you're either indifferent to or just plain don't like—what do you like outside of your precious phone?"

"Outside of my phone? Now, that's a hard one," he said amused as he stood up from the table.

He took her emptied plate along with his into the kitchen. She thought he'd start washing the dishes, but she remembered he had a dishwasher as she heard a small door being opened. But then she heard the refrigerator being opened as well along with the microwave being turned on. It seemed he wasn't satiated from what she'd made. Judging from the not so modest plate he came back to the table with, she was way off the mark with his appetite this morning.

"So…just your phone then," she remarked when he left her question hanging.

"I'm just a one-trick pony. I dedicated a good chunk of my life to software engineering and I don't take pleasure in much else. Well, perhaps there's an exception to that."

Chi-Chi looked at him questioningly, but he refused to expound. "Well, that sounds just like my husband."

"And what did he like to do?"

"Fighting," she said singularly, "Anything combat related. He was obsessed with it. He needed to find his next powerful opponent or be training intently someplace far from home. He enjoyed that more than anything else, more than me, more than his family."

He paused in his eating. "Sorry to hear that."

"Oh, well, maybe it was for the best. The world needed him on a constant basis and maybe I was just being selfish. Maybe I was just expecting too much."

She knew that he couldn't possibly be following what she was saying and she wasn't willing to explain further. It would be too long a story to indulge.

"Even with software engineering I've learned to appreciate it because I shackled myself to it early on and eventually it became my only way out of poverty. 'Enjoy' seems like a word that means something more intrinsic and inevitable. For the most part, I feel as if I'm just going through the motions with most things."

"Sometimes I feel like that too even with things I used to love doing."

"If washing dishes was one of your pastimes, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Oh, shut-up—washing dishes is pretty relaxing! The sound of water, the smell of soap—

"The nonstop scrubbing of greasy pans and the continuous struggle of trying to get every single speck of dirt despite knowing you're only human and it's an impossible task."

"Well that's because you're a perfectionist and I'm not—not that I've ever missed a speck of dirt."

"That you know of."

Chi-Chi didn't even want to begin going down that rabbit hole, but now that it was pointed out to her…

"And I'm by no means a perfectionist, but if I'm going to spend my time doing something, I might as well make sure I'm doing it right."

"I guess that's one way to look at it."

Chi-Chi watched as Auden finished off his plate in record time. For a human, that was quite impressive. She thought she might say something about it, but then thought better of it. They had missed breakfast after all. Once he was done and his place at the table cleared away, she was left to her own devices as he started on the laundry. She wanted to leave and go somewhere already, but he was taking his sweet time. He was not an outdoors person and it was becoming more and more obvious.

The idea of just walking around and exploring the city was apparently a ludicrous idea to Auden who quickly told her that it would take days to traverse the length of it just going in a straight line. As for what she wanted to do today in the way of exercise, she wanted some place outside but private. He knew of a place immediately much to her delight. At least all wasn't lost. It was finally something she could look forward to. Perhaps the prospects of clothes shopping weren't too bad either considering that Auden had no problem spending his own money.

Approximately half an hour passed before she could throw back on her clothes from yesterday. She had to admit that her clothes smelled magnificently fresh and warm right out of the dryer. It was a shame she was going to soil it up again soon. Chi-Chi wasted no time dragging Auden out of the house that day. They went to the nearby retail store and she quickly picked out a week's worth of clothes off the sales rack. Despite only spending less than half an hour in there, she felt that even this was too long, but she was also relieved that she now had a change of clothes as well as undergarments. Perhaps grocery shopping was in order on some later date.

It was nearing the evening time when they arrived at the nearest park. It wasn't as big and easy to lose oneself in as the one in her city, but this one had its own charm. Warm, glowing lanterns lined the sidewalks and every open area was easily identifiable with bright wooden signs. The grounds were well-kept and decorated with exotic flowers from around the world. She could smell a light perfume of flowers in the air, if she exhaled deep enough.

Chi-Chi found a secluded picnic area near the lake and decided that it would be perfect for their purposes. There was even a nice wooden bench nearby they could use if anyone got tired. She fully expected Auden to bow out pretty quickly. She stood still for a moment looking towards the slowly moving water. Auden stood nearby likely admiring the scenery as well.

"Fair weather today," he remarked.

"Yeah, we've been extremely lucky these past two days."

"Well," he said after a while, "I'm sure this is what you've been waiting for all day."

"That is an understatement. Now that we're here though, I just want to take my time."

"I'm a little nervous," he admitted.

Chi-Chi grinned at this. "Don't be. I'm not going to force you to run around the park or anything—that comes later."

"Later?"

"Yeah, when you can manage it. No need to rush into things. No need to try to impress anyone." Chi-Chi waited for a few more seconds having just come up with what they'd be doing today. "So, let's start with some stretches—that way you don't end up hurting yourself later."

Chi-Chi didn't know how bad it was going to be until she started. From the very first stretching position which required one to bend forth and touch one's feet while sitting down, Auden was a complete novice. Perhaps a child would have fared better. She found herself having to remind him to only go as far as he could manage and to not put unnecessary strain on joints and muscles to avoid injury. He couldn't go very far at all—not with the leg stretches, arm stretches, or even midsection stretches. He was a wreck afterwards, so she gave him a few minutes to recover much to her amusement. She didn't want to make him feel embarrassed, but he seemed to be taking it all in stride. At least he was trying.

"Oh, you poor soul," she said trying to not laugh.

"I'm not going to make it through the day," he said wearily. "It's fine, you can laugh." He was already stretched out on the grass with no signs of trying to sit back up again.

"Me? I would never make fun of someone else's misery."

"I'm trying to take this seriously, but it's going just as bad as I imagined it would."

"You'll get better with practice," she insisted.

"The idea of having to do this again…Nightmarish."

"Well, are you ready to continue?"

"No."

"Tough luck. We're moving on to the next set of exercises."

Auden groaned at this, but then crawled back to his feet. From here, she began teaching him the basic forms of the fighting technique that had been passed down through her family on her father's side. On their own, they were a great way to fully engage one's body in exercise and only vaguely resembled something one might use in a fight. This went far smoother than the stretches much to her relief. In fact, he seemed to take to them quicker in repeated reps. She only taught him two out of the thirteen forms.

"It's almost like this could be done on someone else," he commented when they were done with the first set of reps.

Chi-Chi grinned at this. He must have already caught on to what she might be showing him. "Perhaps, if you were quick enough and took hold of the right body parts."

She noticed that he was already well out-of-breath so she paused again for his sake, then continued on. In this way, they spent another half hour going over the same techniques until she determined that he likely couldn't take anymore. As soon as she declared that they were done, Auden was soon splayed on the ground desperately trying to catch his breath.

He'd gotten a good workout that day, but she realized that she'd have to do a great deal more to reach her own limits. Eventually, he managed to set himself up on the bench to regain some sort of dignity, but he was very clearly done that day. She wouldn't be able to make him do anything else even if she begged him, not that she would.

"Hey, Auden, wait here for me—I'm going to go jogging around the park."

He looked at her with disbelief. "Don't worry, I won't move a muscle."

She chuckled at his phrasing. "See you in a little while then."

It would have been nice to have a jogging partner, but he simply wasn't ready for all of that. Maybe he would one day. In fact, she was determined to help him reach that level of stamina. She took off quickly down the well-lit paths. Since it was quickly growing dark, she was glad he'd chosen a park that wasn't so scary at night. Comparing herself to Auden, one wouldn't even begin to suspect that she was out of shape. In reality, compared to what she could do in her youth, she was. She might be able to make two trips around the park, but she could have done much more in the past. Looking at it that way, she had a long way to go—it was depressing how far down she'd fallen. In this respect, it was nice having Auden around to boost her own confidence. Only time would tell just how committed he was. She couldn't quite tell right now. He hadn't told her that he wouldn't continue going to exercise with her, but he probably wasn't all that enthusiastic about it.

By the time she made it back to the bench a second time, she found him fully engrossed in his phone again. Gohan had shown her a cell phone before—she couldn't imagine ever being so taken by it. It seemed to amount to a lot of random symbols and graphics on a bright screen. Somehow, Auden had made an entire career out of it.

"Ready to go?" she asked as she caught her breath again.

"What's this? It's possible for even you to get tired?"

"Very funny," she said unable to laugh. "So, whatcha doing on your phone?"

"Just updating a few programs—boring stuff."

She had no idea what he was talking about and she was glad he didn't go into a detailed explanation. "Well, anyway, I know you have to have worked up an appetite, right?"

"Sure, after surviving your little torture session."

"It's not that bad."

Auden stood up from the bench. "So you say."

They made their way back to the car at a modest pace. Chi-Chi attempted to walk a little faster, but Auden didn't take the bait. They weren't too far away from home and they made it back in record time. She thought of making a grand feast for them, but Auden seemed content with reheated food.

"I'd rather not waste food," he said after she told him what she planned to do. "Force of habit, I suppose."

"There's so much leftover, I doubt we could get through it today. Might as well throw it away after tonight."

Auden looked at her puzzled. "That would be extremely wasteful."

Chi-Chi sighed exasperatedly. "I'm not even used to having leftovers."

"Don't worry, you'll survive. If you keep things below a certain temperature in the freezer, it can last a few days."

"Yeah, I know, but…"

Auden wasn't going to be throwing away food, that much she was certain of. She was a novice when it came to reheating things and she wasn't particularly fond of nuking things in the microwave. Auden didn't use that this time preferring to use the gradual heating of the oven and using the stove eyes on a low setting. Actually, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. All the meat and sauces turned out well and the vegetables were easy enough to reheat on the stove.

She expected him to take a large portion like she saw in the morning, but this time his plate was modest. One could never tell with him apparently. They ate in relative silence for a while. Only the sound of metal clinking on ceramic could be heard. The tall glass of cold-water Auden had poured them looked enticing sitting before her. For some reason, she assumed that he'd have his phone out at the table, but it seemed whenever she was around, his full attention was on her.

"Where is Aster, by the way?" she asked when a thought came to mind.

He shrugged at this. "I have no idea. She hasn't decided to let me know her whereabouts and I haven't asked."

"Doesn't that…concern you?"

"Not really. She's fully capable of making her own decisions."

"But having her coming and going without giving you a heads up has to be annoying."

"Well, I'm never doing anything out of the norm to warrant it."

"And now?"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "I should be a little worried, shouldn't I? Maybe I should let her know that you're here."

"Don't bother. She doesn't tell you anything so you shouldn't tell her anything."

He actually paused for a moment longer before simply going along with her suggestion. "We'll see what happens then."

"I'm not really all that concerned. I'm used to people not wanting me around anyway."

"Now, Chi-Chi—

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it that way," she said realizing too late how bad that sounded. "It's just…that's just how it is. It's better to just ignore it and assert yourself whether people want you to or not."

"I want you here."

That singular phrase caught her off guard and she found herself staring at him unable to find the words to respond.

"Sorry, that sounded way better in my head than out loud. Whatever you want to call this—vacation or visiting—it's been nice having you around. I really enjoy your company."

"Well, that's great since I was thinking about staying a bit longer."

"Stay as long as you like."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"I don't make that offer lightly. The idea of having someone stay with me outside of Aster is a foreign concept to me. In fact, it always sounded like a terrible idea until now. It's different, I suppose. I'm probably not explaining myself very well."

"I don't think I fully understand, but I like the sentiment. I'm glad I haven't managed to get on your nerves yet."

"I think you'd sooner get bored of me before then."

Chi-Chi laughed at this. "Maybe I like 'boring'. Besides, you're way more interesting than you give yourself credit."

That last part was especially true. Just from being around him and observing his habits and mannerisms, she wanted to learn more about him, more than what Bulma had told her at least. While Goku had been an open book, Auden wasn't quite that. He was welcoming, to be sure, but he didn't exactly like divulging too much about himself. She could say the same for herself. For a long time, she hadn't been interested in talking about herself. She was always giving to others, shaped by everyone else's whims. Even without explicitly saying it, Auden seemed interested in her. She'd wager that he wanted to know more than he knew now about her, but he wasn't the type to pressure her into such things.

After finishing the late dinner and taking a gloriously long hot shower in his sparkling bathroom, she joined him once again in bed as if it was already routine.

"I have to work tomorrow," he said as she made herself comfortable. He was laying on his back now.

"Oh," she said, realizing that this was obviously going to be a thing that came up. She wasn't sure what to do, if that was the case.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."

"What? Is that allowed?"

"At CC? Of course. People do it all the time there especially during the summer. I never paid it any mind. They encourage inviting friends and family. They even provide inhouse childcare and plenty of recreational activities."

"Wow, that's really generous. I had no idea jobs could do that."

"When you're as big and powerful as them, you can afford to splurge on those sorts of things. They're always trying to promote a more welcoming family atmosphere and most people take advantage."

"Here I was thinking you worked somewhere in a cubicle."

"CC has mastered the art of concealing their 'cubicles'. As people involve more and more of their lives with the company, the more of it they control, the more they can take the guise of someone friendly and harmless."

Chi-Chi didn't know what to say back to this as he described something quite sinister. "Um…well…"

"Anyways, if you're interested, you're free to come along with me," he ended on a lighter note.

"Sure—I'd love to see how you spend the better part of the day."

She heard as he yawned though he politely covered his mouth as he did so. "Mmm, well, I hope I don't disappoint."

"As long as you promise to join me again at the park."

He turned to his side away from her at this and she chuckled at his antics.

"Auden," she stated plainly.

"Of course," he said after a while, "I'd love to be treated to your wonderful torture session."

"It's not that bad!" she declared.

He yawned again at this. "Yeah, sure."

He fell asleep soon after. It was amazing how quickly he could do so. For her, she was still energetic from her activities at the park. After she'd caught her breath, she'd actually been ready for more, but Auden had no second wind to speak of.

"One day," she said to herself, "It won't be so bad for you, Auden. And you might even actually enjoy it. Well, maybe…"

It took her a bit, but eventually she followed in suit after finally relaxing in the pitch blackness of the room.

* * *

Having thoroughly prepped herself for the day, Chi-Chi found herself looking at her reflection and frowning at what stared back at her. If Goku were to come back today and find her like this, would he even recognize her? Would he be embarrassed? She'd never been sure how much stock he put into their marriage in the first place. She wondered if he'd by now figured out what marriage meant or the responsibility that it entailed. Maybe it was her fault for trying to force things to work with the first guy she ever had a crush on. She'd been young and foolish, but she remained with him despite the circumstances. And he always came back home…eventually. She was still waiting for him.

On her first perusal of the bathroom, she'd stumbled upon the medicine cabinet that was chockful of prescription drugs all with difficult to pronounce names and most of them were half full. They were all Auden's as each container had his name on it. She stared at the sheer number of bottles for longer than she'd like to admit and then closed it in a hurry. Since she'd been with him, she'd not seen him take anything. Maybe he was so discreet about it that she'd missed it or maybe he was waiting until she was asleep to take them in the middle of the night. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. No one was perfect and he'd been checking all the right boxes with her—even ones she didn't know she had.

That morning out of morbid curiosity, she checked again to make sure she hadn't been mistaken the first time. She still hadn't seen him take any pills and it continued to confuse her. She'd been too shaken to open the other cabinet that was behind the mirror, but her curiosity won out. Bright, shiny bottles of skin care products and tools greeted her eyes and she found herself inspecting each bottle, reading the descriptions and instructions. Clearly, each one was part of a set. Just from the packaging and verbiage alone, she knew it had to be high-end products and all of them claimed to have some form of de-aging properties. This was what he'd been talking about before. Apparently, everyone knew about this sort of thing except her! Her eyes eventually found the pricing which was printed in small text near the bottom—$107. Her eyes widened at this. It was far outside her budget. She had to blink back tears in her frustration.

"Are you shitting me? These prices are insane!" she exclaimed.

"Just another way society screws over the poor," came Auden's voice from behind.

She jumped in surprise having forgotten she'd left the bathroom door open. She turned to look at Auden who was leaning against the doorway with crossed arms. How long had he been there? Had he seen her snooping in his medicine cabinet as well?

"Companies know what they're doing when they overprice their products and it's disgusting," he continued despite her obvious surprise.

He didn't seem particularly upset much to her relief. "Well, it doesn't look like something I could buy on a whim," she said as she carefully put it back in its place. "I thought you said this stuff was commonplace. Here I was thinking it'd be more affordable."

"You can find a lot of inexpensive products that make the same claims, to be sure. Unfortunately, those brands cut far too many corners to make any real difference."

"Oh," Chi-Chi said sadly.

"They have a store in the mall. After work, I could take you there for a consultation and they can start you on a regimen that's suitable for your needs."

"Really? You'd do that for me?" she said in disbelief.

"Of course," he replied as if it was obvious.

"Oh my gawd. Thank you so much! I don't know what to say. I'm speechless!"

She moved to try to embrace him in all her excitement, but he put up a hand signifying that he didn't want her to step any closer.

"Please, hugs are unnecessary."

Her smile faded a little as she placed her arms at her side again.

"Do you still need the bathroom? We have a little less than half an hour to get ready and I haven't even started my usual routine."

"Yeah, I'm finished. Sorry," she said quickly as she moved passed him into the hallway. "I'm probably making you so late right now."

"No, it's alright. You gave me an excuse to sleep in a little longer." He was already in the bathroom running the sink water.

"Hey, did you want me to whip up some breakfast?" she asked.

"Only if you want to," he said glancing back at her. He had his hands on the doorknob.

"Sounds like a 'yes' to me. You can't fool me."

He only grinned in response. "Well, if you can excuse me," he said as he began closing the door.

"Oh, alright."

Chi-Chi wasn't used to being rushed out of the bathroom. She usually woke up earlier than anyone else or in the case of her living situation with her family now, she had her own bathroom. Being in such confined quarters was definitely something new to her especially in an urban setting.

Since she was already dressed, she made her way to the kitchen which was now becoming much easier to navigate around, and quickly pan-fried some food items for breakfast. Something told her that going to work on an empty stomach was a recipe for disaster and she had to be there the whole time—at least that's what she signed up for. Though it was somewhat exciting, she wondered once again what she was getting herself into. Would she even have anything to do while there? Would it be awkward for her? Would she simply just make a fool of herself being completely out of her element? As much as she wanted her son to have a respectable job, she'd never actually worked at one before. Would her own mannerisms give her away? She sighed to herself. This day might end up being a complete disaster.

Auden joined her at the table a few minutes later with phone predictably in hand. Did he also take that thing into the bathroom with him because he couldn't bear being away from it for more than a few minutes? Still, he gave her his full attention at the table despite her misgivings. They couldn't sit for long before they were rushing off to work. They wouldn't be late, he reassured her. He always set his time to be there twenty minutes before everyone else.

"What about my clothes? Do you think it'll pass for business attire?" she asked while sitting in the car on the passenger's side.

He seemed to always wear business casual and today he looked just as clean-cut as usual. She could smell a subtle fresh woody scent from him. It suited him somehow. This along with his eyeglasses made him appear quite professional and, in her opinion, beside him she looked like a bumbling country girl wearing outdated fashion.

"I don't think it matters for you—you're a guest after all and not actually working there. Though today you look especially enchanting; like a princess from a faraway land."

"I would be a very old princess," Chi-Chi said looking away though her cheeks were burning profusely. "It's just a dress I picked out because it was cheaper than the others."

"It suits you very well," he insisted.

It was a style of dress that was more her speed similar to the kind she wore when Gohan was much younger—hardly anything to impress someone else. In fact, she couldn't remember anyone ever complimenting her for all the years she wore it. "Well," she began with a sigh, "Thank you." Her princess hood, at this point, was moot and wasn't worth bringing up. It had been a long time since she'd even felt like a princess. An abandoned wife whose existence revolved around whether she cooked for the day or not felt like a more apt description. Still, it was nice that he seemed to think that she was somehow fascinating. It gave her a warm feeling that she hadn't experienced in some time.

Chi-Chi walked side by side with Auden into his workplace—it was a substantial building with plenty of floors, yet Auden described it as a satellite location. Once in the right area, Auden introduced her to the people he worked with on a daily basis. She noticed immediately that most of them were women and they all seemed hyper-interested in her relationship to Auden. Chi-Chi was sure he repeated the fact that they were friends a hundred times in the span of three minutes. She started to expect to feel some animosity or jealousy—instead, they all seemed to admire her and place her on a pedestal. It felt a little uncanny. She hadn't been prepared for that at all.

"So are you two really just friends?" the red head woman closest to her asked. She had a noticeable smoothness to her voice. In fact, she looked quite beautiful, with long wavy hair, very plump breasts, and a youthful air, all of which made Chi-Chi feel a little inadequate. Auden hadn't mentioned that he was working with models for most of the day.

Auden had just been pulled away to someone who urgently needed his help and this woman had stopped her before she could retreat back to his side again.

"O-Oh, yeah, of course. He said it right before."

The woman flashed her a brilliant smile. "No need to be coy, honey. None of us have any hard feelings."

"Us? What do you mean?" Chi-Chi asked though she suspected she knew what she was talking about.

The woman looked at her knowingly, "You're the first women who's not Aster he's ever brought along with him to work—that's enough evidence for me. You seem like a nice lady, more his speed."

"Well, thank you, but I think you have it all wrong—

"If anyone deserves to fall in love, to have some sort of real companionship with someone, it's our precious little Audi."

"Companionship? Listen, we've only just met a few days ago—

"And that's all it takes, my dear. Please, don't take him for granted or you will be hearing from me."

Chi-Chi's eyebrows furrowed at this. Was that a threat?

"My name's Rose, by the way. I know he already introduced us, but it's easy to forget names the first go around."

"Well, Rose, I don't take kindly to intimidation. Me and Auden are simply friends and since I happened to be in the area, he asked me to come along with him. That's all."

"Of course," she said with a smile. "Even if that is the case, the same rules still apply. We all adore and look after him—only as much as he allows, which isn't much, but we do our best."

"So you ladies are all just one big family, huh? How come he's never mentioned anything about you or anyone he works with before, if everyone's so caring?"

"Because he's a master at pushing people away and keeping them at armlength, honey," she answered unperturbed. "It's a terrible habit of his, but anyone can see that he must have gone through a lot back then—you can't fault him for that. We've all been worried about him for some time now and none of us have been able to help. This is the happiest I've ever seen him and I'm certain you're the reason for that."

Why did it suddenly feel like a heavy burden was being placed on her shoulders? She knew that Auden wasn't quite right based on what Bulma had told her had happened in her lab, but were things this bad that people he worked with on a daily basis could tell something was wrong just by looking?

"I'm just being a good friend," she said, unwilling to engage much further.

"Well, whatever you want to call it. I'm glad that you are."

Chi-Chi looked over to where Auden was, already planning her escape from the woman. "It's been nice meeting you. Please excuse me," she said quickly.

She didn't even wait to hear a reply before she was making her way across the room, but she could feel eyes on her back. When she looked back, however, everyone seemed innocently engrossed in their bright screens on the tabletop. Did Auden know how much his coworkers adored him? She'd even go further and say that they worshipped him. She'd have to have a talk with Auden about all of this. At the very least, he should be made aware.

She stayed near him for the time being though she was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable noticing that anytime anyone looked up, they paused their gaze at her and then onto Auden. It didn't take long for every other woman to get a good look at her. They were all very friendly, but she felt like she was in one of Gohan's petri dishes. Auden stopped at some point to speak to her alone when they were standing a little ways from everyone else.

"If you like, you can visit the recreational area so you don't have to sit through all this boring stuff. They dedicated the entire fifth floor for entertainment and rec purposes."

That sounded like a great idea at the moment. Anyplace but here sounded great. "Thank you. I'll just leave you to your fun."

He laughed softly at this—it was a quiet environment and he probably didn't want to disturb anyone. "I'll see you in a while then. The elevator is just down the hall once you step out of here."

Chi-Chi beat a hasty retreat into the hallway and eventually onto the elevator. Though she wasn't used to those things, she quickly understood that pressing the number 5 would probably bring her to her destination. Once the elevator doors slipped open, she was presented with an entirely different atmosphere—there was certainly more color and the sound of whirring machines was nowhere to be found. It was quiet where she was as she stepped down the hall in wonder. Glass walls partitioned out the many rooms they had. She heard more noise much further down, but the magnificently large pool area caught her eye. Thankfully, no one was there. It seemed like a great place to relax.

The water was sparkling blue and the pool featured various levels of depth along with a diving board and even an impressive slide. There was an information booth as well with someone there likely monitoring the room and where one could borrow various equipment and items. Two other women were spread out further in the room sitting atop very tall chairs. Chi-Chi gave the woman at the booth a brief wave of acknowledgment before deciding to sit on the edge of the deepest end on the other side of the massive room. She took off her shoes and rolled up her dress a bit so that she could dip her toes in—the water was deliciously cool. She'd expected it to be ice cold, but she had a feeling that this was temperature controlled. This was as close to outside one could feel inside of a corporate building.

Eventually, she laid back onto the cement, kicking up the water every so often, and her eyes gazed up at the ceiling that seemed far, far away. A mural had been painted of a bright sunny sky with seagulls flapping away and clouds lazing about. It was so beautiful, she wondered how anyone could manage to paint something so realistic. If she let her mind wander, she could imagine actually being outside with the sun beating on her skin and the constant symphony of noises all around.

"Oh, my, another brave soul," came an older woman's voice from nearby.

Chi-Chi was quickly broken out of her daydream. She sat up so she could see the woman a little better. "Hi, I hope I'm not disturbing you." This seemed extremely unlikely considering how much space they had. She wondered why the woman had gone out of her way to come over and speak. She wore her graying brunette hair in a tiny bun and donned a full-coverage swimming suit—her legs looked quite toned.

"So you're Chi-Chi, right?"

Chi-Chi looked at her in confusion. "Yes—how did you know?"

"News travels lightning fast around here, doubly so if it's about Mr. Sexy over there in data management. Plus, we're pretty close-knit and you're definitely a new face."

"Really fast, apparently. I've barely been here an hour."

The woman chuckled heartily at this. "My name's Clair, by the way. I'm from R&D."

"Hello then, Clair."

Much to Chi-Chi's annoyance, Clair sat right next to her clearly not planning to leave her in peace. "Now that I have you all to myself, I suppose I can extract all the juicy details from you."

"Juicy details?" Chi-Chi parroted with shock. "I think you ladies are blowing this all out of proportion. If I had known it was going to be like this—"

"No worries, girl, we don't bite. It's just some harmless fun we're having. Now, I know you have eyes. The fact that someone that delectable is still somehow a bachelor in this late stage of life had all of us coming up with all these crazy ideas. He's super nice all the time, takes care of himself, and he's pretty much the best director anyone could ask for. When he's around, everything moves along smoothly. He values your hard work, he actually knows what he's doing, and he makes sure everyone keeps getting generous raises every year—and that's a huge deal because our managers are liable to forget putting it into Payroll."

"Wow," Chi-Chi said impressed, "That's high-praise from someone from a completely different department."

"He oversees everyone here, but his office is in Data Management."

Chi-Chi could scarcely wrap her mind around how much responsibility that entailed. He seemed to take it in stride. Since she'd been visiting, he hardly brought up work at all. Maybe it was because like Clair said, everything was moving so smoothly. "So," she began after a moment, "What kind of silly ideas have you come up with about him? I'll let you know if you're hot or cold or if I have no clue. You probably know him better than I do though."

"Oh, I doubt it. As the only woman who's capable of making him laugh—yes, Rose told us about your little exchange with him a little while ago—you have way more insight."

"I should probably just stop being shocked at how much people already know around here. This is apparently a hot bed of gossipers."

Clair laughed at this. "No, just extremely bored middle-aged women. Anyways, one of the theories is that he's gay."

Chi-Chi shook her head at this. "I don't think so, but I can't say for certain."

"Keeping it close to the chest—I completely understand," she said with a knowing look. "Another theory that's a bit more tragic: he married the love of his life long ago and she passed away too soon which is why he wears a black ring on his right hand instead of his left. He's still mourning her loss."

"Ah, well, that's an involved narrative. I have no idea. He does have a daughter, so maybe?"

"That's what we thought. It sounds more likely, right? Okay, so another one which is what I like to believe is that he's extremely particular about women and since he knows he can date any woman he wants, he takes his sweet time. And he's still saving himself for that one special person."

"Hmmm…Maybe, but don't you think it sounds a little farfetched?"

"I've heard of stranger things. Another one is that CC has his soul locked up somewhere and he's been forced to work for them so that he can win it back—it explains the lack of emotion and his dedication to the job," she said somehow keeping a straight face.

"What?"

"Inside joke," she said with a laugh. "But CC loves trying to control your whole life and somebody got carried away with that one. Any truth to it?"

"I highly doubt it. He hasn't mentioned anything about his lack of a soul."

"Then a younger colleague came up with the idea that he's probably just asexual which, again, explains the black ring but also the fact that he wears it on his middle finger. Actually, that one's been picking up a lot of steam lately…"

"Well," Chi-Chi began slowly. "Actually, that's quite warm." The fact that Pan was so fascinated with him in the first place was clue enough for her, but at some point she had brought up the fact that he was of this persuasion at the dinner table after Videl peppered her with questions. She still barely knew what that meant for Pan let alone Auden.

"Oooh," Clair said nodding slowly.

"But I don't know for sure," Chi-Chi added.

"Oh, you cruel lady, leaving me in the dark! I'll admit though that it'd knock the wind out of my sails, if that was even remotely true. It would be such a shame." Clair stood up after this. "While I still have some free time, I'd like to swim a few laps. Hope I'll see you more often."

Chi-Chi couldn't say that she shared her sentiment and couldn't figure out what to say before the woman was jumping off the edge and splashing into the water. The woman was nothing if not graceful as she quickly began gliding through the water. She was practically a fish. Chi-Chi had to admit that it was fascinating to watch her cut through the water so easily.

Sometime later—Chi-Chi wasn't keeping up with the time—Auden found her there in the pool area. He certainly seemed out of place in such a relaxing setting. Chi-Chi could already see Clair peeping her head out of the water in the distance. If she wasn't mistaken, Clair was giving her a thumbs up much to her embarrassment.

"I thought you might like to join me for lunch," he said to when he was in earshot.

The mention of food certainly perked her up. She had no idea what she wanted, but she knew lunch sounded perfect right now. "Yeah," she said climbing out of the pool, "I'm practically starving."

"Sorry, I got a little busy—it is a bit late for lunch, but they're still serving it now."

"Oh, they serve lunch here? I really shouldn't be surprised with a recreational area like this."

"It's pretty good too, though carryout is not allowed."

"Huh, I wonder why?" she said trying to dry her feet by wiggling each leg.

"You know," he began with a slightly darker tone, "to further entice people to never leave the premises. Let me get you a towel."

He left her a bit out of sorts with that answer, but she did need a towel at the moment. Chi-Chi was grateful when he came back with one from the booth. At least she didn't have to walk around on the cold floor with wet feet. She dried herself soon after and quickly put back on her footwear.

"What was all that before?" she asked referring to his last comment, "Everyone's just a little crazy around here, aren't they?"

"Maybe," he said not disputing her, "In reality, we all know how CC slowly tries to control every aspect of your life, sinister or not. That way they can get higher and higher productivity out of each employee."

Chi-Chi nearly choked at this. "So you've sold your soul to the company?" she said playing along, hoping to catch him off guard.

"Oh that? They have it somewhere under lock and key and they haven't seen fit to return it—maybe one day though."

She wasn't sure if she should be taking that seriously. "You're feeding into the gossip, aren't you?"

"What was that?" he said innocently.

"Really, Auden?" she said loudly, barely able to keep a straight face.

"C'mon, already—I'm starving too," he said as they both began making their way out of the room.

"I can't believe you, Auden—so you know about all the stuff people have been saying about you?" she said once they were in the hall and going towards the elevator.

"I don't really pay attention on most days, but I found that one to be particularly amusing. Besides, it isn't too far from the truth."

Chi-Chi looked at him thoughtfully, but decided not to go down that road. "Isn't it weird though—with so many women around here and then everybody talking about you?" They were waiting for the elevator to come to their floor.

"I think it's great so many women have decided to pursue careers in engineering—it wasn't always like that. Bulma has inspired and continues to inspire many young women to do things that they actually like to do despite the stigma."

"That's…not what I was talking about and you know it." The elevator door opened as if on cue.

"I can't control what people decide to talk about on their free time," he said as he walked in the elevator with Chi-Chi. "I hope I've created a culture in which people aren't afraid to speak their minds and don't feel the need to walk on eggshells. I hope everyone views each other as their equal and that we are all here to fulfill a role—not to belittle or think anyone's more valuable than the next."

"I think that's an honorable philosophy to have."

"Unfortunately, it's not always so easy to maintain, especially working in a company that has very strict hierarchy, massive differences in pay, and different rules of engagement to someone depending on their position. At least in this building, we've done away with all the tedious formality. That's not the case elsewhere."

"I was kind of wondering about that. I mean, I'm not all that familiar with business environments, but this is definitely different from what I thought."

"How has it been?"

"Interesting. Actually, I guess not that bad. Everyone's been so welcoming."

"Good. That's what I like to hear."

Here, completely in his element, Auden was a great deal more at ease. It was clear that everyone respected him, and it wasn't until now that she realized that he actually took pride in his work and the people who worked alongside him. She found she liked this side of him along with all the others she'd witnessed thus far.

Auden guided her to the café that was on the floor above them and she was presented with a ton of options for lunch.

"This all looks very expensive and luxurious—'pretty good' is a very modest way of describing all this."

He grinned a little at this. "One gets used to it. Since all employees pay into this, you don't have to worry about paying anything upfront. We're allowed quite a few guests as well."

"Wow—that sounds incredible. You can get whatever you want and however much you want without paying anything?"

"Someone always has to pay, but I understand what you mean. You have free reign."

Chi-Chi was getting excited just looking around. She already had her eye on the sushi bar—definitely something that would cost an arm and a leg in her city.

"Now…if only people could apply this same concept to healthcare. Isn't it ironic how a completely authoritarian private company like CC can figure out the merits of socializing facets of their business before the government can?"

"Auden, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm going to get me some sushi right now."

"I think I'll have the same," he said, "It's been a while."

Generally, she was modest about which sort of sushi she partook in. Today she decided to order the fancier variety. There was a live chef there making it fresh—she was beginning to feel like a spoiled little princess just ordering whatever she wanted without worrying about the cost. Auden, apparently, had a taste for eel as he ordered all the varieties that included it in some way. Chi-Chi was in a bright mood once they chose a table near the window secluded somewhat from others and she was able to finally dig in.

"Geez, if I worked in a place like this, I'd never want to leave. I wonder why Gohan insisted on working from home."

"Maybe CC already has it's claws in you."

"Oh, stop," she said dismissively.

"I think Gohan has the right idea. Working from home definitely gives you a lot more flexibility. If you're disciplined enough, it's a perfect fit for most people."

"He's definitely disciplined," Chi-Chi said proudly. "He always gets up bright and early to go to his lab downstairs."

"It sounds like he really enjoys his work."

"I'd say so. I'd never thought I'd see the day the way everyone kept dragging him off to all those dangerous battles! But my Gohan isn't nearly into fighting as much as his father was."

"Hm," Auden said thoughtfully.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Not entirely, but I'm starting to see a theme."

"Be glad you don't really understand. It's not a world you want to involve yourself."

"Well, now you have me curious."

"I was hoping the opposite."

Chi-Chi wasn't looking at Auden as she dipped her piece of sushi into the soy sauce, but she felt his gaze on him. She pretended not to notice hoping he might drop the subject and start with another.

"Somehow Vegeta is involved, I bet."

"You have no idea. That delinquent is the epicenter of danger."

Auden left her last words hanging for a while as he finally started on his food. "In that case, perhaps I should give him a wide berth."

"That would be the sensible thing," Chi-Chi replied.

"Though he was quite helpful to me in the end."

"Don't let him fool you," she almost spat but managed to keep her tone respectful.

"He also seems very knowledgeable about this 'ki'."

"Not humans and ki," she clarified, "But I'm sure he has a lot of personal experience."

"So he's not human," Auden stated matter-of-factly.

Chi-Chi almost choked on the morsel in her mouth. She had to take down a few sips of water to clear her throat. In the meantime, Auden was already looking at her full of concern.

"Are you—

"No, I'm fine," she asked before he finished his obvious question. "I'm fine. I just had something stuck in my throat. Anyway, I wouldn't bother trying to figure any of this out—it's not worth it. I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to get involved with Vegeta. Let's just move on already."

"Alright," he said backing off much to her relief. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset!" She realized that she'd raised her voice a bit too much as she noticed eyes on her from the occupants. "I'm not upset," she said calmer. "Why don't you…tell me about what you've been doing all day while I was at the pool."

"Well, a number of things," he began slowly, "But I hardly think you'd be all that interested in hearing about it."

She looked at him with pursed lips, "I asked, didn't I?"

"You did," he agreed simply.

Then from there he went into painful detail about his day and she immediately regretted it. She'd know better next time—never under any circumstances ask him for details about his work. It was all flying right over her head as she smiled and nodded along. Did he know that she wasn't following in the slightest? He gave no indication that he did, but surely he must've known. Even when he would pause and ask if she understood or asked if she agreed, she'd smile and nod. Chi-Chi was glad when their meal came to a close so that she could escape the techy, business jargon. He took her dishes as he usually did and put them in the front along with the other emptied plates. He seemed quite amused on his return.

"What?" she asked confused at his expression.

"I don't know what to make of you sometimes."

Chi-Chi could only give him a gentle smile as she wasn't willing to admit the obvious.

"Will you be returning with me or exploring a bit more?" he asked further.

"I'll think I'll do more exploring. If I've learned anything in the past few minutes, it's that I probably wouldn't get much from shadowing you all day."

"Well then, I'll see you in a while. I'll try not go overtime."

"You better not," she said playfully.

Truthfully, she wanted to leave already, but she was still curious about the recreational area since she hadn't actually looked everywhere. They parted ways and Chi-Chi found herself on the fifth floor on her own. The pool area was nice, but what else was there to offer? Her eyes widened at the plethora of activities beyond—ice skating, roller skating, bowling, a movie theater, a well-equipped gym which she was eyeing for some time before continuing. She found a huge videogaming lounge—a place in which Goten would have immediately fell in love. There were more specialty eateries and juice bars as well as more gaming areas that included pool and card games. That's where she'd been hearing the noise before. There was even putt-putt and tennis. Just how much could CC pack onto one floor? She wasn't really wearing the right clothes for many of these things, but she felt she had enough flexibility in her dress to a do a bit of roller skating.

It would be nice to get in some exercise before having to do it with Auden later. Other people were out there too, but she purposefully stayed out of their way so that she could skate in peace. It had been a long time since she'd done this. For the first few minutes, she was focusing on regaining her balance and technique. Once she was able to manage it, she started skating in full force with long strides. She enjoyed how fast she was flying through the air and the feeling of her feet gliding beneath her. It was so enchanting, she wound up skating about the rink for much longer than anticipated. She stopped, only when her breath gave out and she was in danger of falling flat on her face in exhaustion. She sat in the lounge outside the room for some time waiting for her racing heart to calm. She knew she would be feeling that in the morning. It would be a familiar pain that she welcomed.

"You were magnificent out there," a woman's voice interrupted the silence around her.

Chi-Chi had been sitting back on the long booth, but when she looked up she beheld a tall, stunning blond woman with sparkling blue eyes. She couldn't help but stare at her. The woman smiled and then laughed.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, but I've been dying to speak to you. I'm Seria."

Chi-Chi scolded at herself for being so awkward and finally responded. "Thank you, first of all. I had no idea I had audience. I'm really rusty, by the way, and the other girls out there were way more skillful."

"You're so modest! You were so fast and graceful out there, I could hardly see you at times. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

That such a ridiculously ravishing woman was giving her such glowing reviews was a little off putting. She simply couldn't believe that Auden managed to work with such smart, good-looking women who apparently adored him and not have even been mildly interested. What in the world did Auden see in her because she was totally missing it. The more she thought about it, the more it just didn't make any kind of sense.

"I guess you have. Everyone seems to already know me."

"News travels fast," she explained as she sat down beside Chi-Chi. "Only a truly special woman could draw Director Tyga's attention. How must it feel like to have his singular attention?"

"Um, well, I wouldn't know—we're just friends." She was already starting to repeat herself.

"He probably needs that more than anything. Someone to talk to, someone to confide in. Oh, I would love to be in your shoes as he tells you all his deep, dark secrets."

"I hope he doesn't have too many of those. I don't know if I'd be ready for that."

"A strong woman like you? I bet you can handle far more than you give yourself credit. I can tell."

To hear such confident praise from a stranger was definitely new for her. She was hoping she'd wake up from this ego-driven fantasy of hers. Otherwise, there was no way to explain everyone's behavior around her. Auden was apparently some kind of celebrity here. She got the sense that everyone loved him and everyone was looking out for him. How could someone so popular seem so lonely? But perhaps she already had an answer to that in a sense. Considering how much she knew her family loved her and depended on her continued presence, she'd been feeling extremely lonely for a long time.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence."

"We can all use a little pep talk every once in a while," she said with a smile. "Are you liking the recreational area?"

"It's been incredible. I feel like CC thought of everything when it came to this. The rooms are huge and they're still selling food."

"Only healthy options though, but I don't mind. I love getting the smoothie around here. When I first came here, I felt like a little girl in a candy store and had to try every single thing in one day. Did you know they have archery back there too in the same place as the open gym?"

"No," Chi-Chi said amazed.

"It's great for toning and building muscle in your arms. I do it every time I'm here."

"That sounds like an interesting pastime. I don't know if I'd try it today though."

"Oh yeah, no—it's getting a little late. I was just there and I'm just winding down until it's time to go."

"Do you work here?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Actually, no, I'm just the wife of one of the managers who work here. I come out here all the time. If you really want to get immersed in the culture, you should try joining in some card games. People are so friendly around here and I'm sure it'll be doubly so for you."

"Because I'm associated with Auden?"

"Yep," she said with a smile. "I haven't actually met him before, but I hear enough about him on a daily basis that I feel like I've known him forever."

"Do you have any idea why he's so popular?"

"That's a good question," Seria said thoughtfully. "I'm guessing it's because he's so nice! My husband told me that it's just not the norm at CC. Everyone is usually so focused on meeting certain goals and trying to move up through the ranks, that it's generally more cutthroat. While they promote a family atmosphere, it was more like a veneer to make the company seem like it was caring about the employees. I've been here for a long time and it has definitely changed. Mark is so much less stressed. No one's trying to sabotage each other anymore. I think it's because Auden had an entirely different philosophy about work that he wasn't afraid of implementing. The way he worked with people and eventually became the director—it was really inspiring. You can do all that and not screw over other people. His department started doing so much better than the others and so his way of thinking became infectious. From what I could tell, Auden always made sure that everyone was reaping the rewards of their success. They say, every time he gets a bonus of any kind, he splits it among everyone else—and it still turns out being a substantial amount because my husband was able to buy a house outright. We'd been waiting to pay off a few bills first before starting a family and just like that we were able to do it."

"I think I understand a little better," Chi-Chi said, "He's materially improved everyone's lives and it's something outside the norm. I can see why everyone would like a person like that."

"Yeah, exactly. We all know that his goal is to make sure everyone is well taken care of. It does help that he's also pretty cute," she finished with a smile.

Chi-Chi couldn't help but grudgingly smile at this. "As I've been reminded a few times today."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say though. It all comes secondary to the thing that everyone actually likes about him. His selflessness is what shines through the most in my opinion that is what truly makes him beautiful." Seria stood up after this. "Well, hope to see you around again sometime. Maybe we could do some archery. I'm going to go meet Mark in his office."

Seria waved goodbye before taking off. The other people in the lounging area was starting to do the same. Though they didn't all come over to introduce themselves—thank God—they did make sure to say their farewells as they left a few at a time. It was winding down now. She wondered when the place officially closed and how far overtime they'd allow people to stay.

After hearing from Seria, it confirmed what Chi-Chi had been suspecting all along about Auden's popularity. She knew it could not have been his winning personality—not that she minded his personality, but she wouldn't describe it as particularly congenial, not any more so than the next person. In fact, she would say that he was actually a bit awkward and somewhat subversive. He was someone who was slightly off-kilter from everyone else and didn't do too much to adjust or try to hide it.

Chi-Chi finally made her way to Auden. While it had been a long day for her, she imagined it must have felt even longer for him as he'd actually been working the whole time. This was the sort of lifestyle that she'd been pushing her son towards, but she could see why someone might be averse to it. She could never see Goku committing himself to such a regimen and she was glad that Gohan had found a way around it somewhat.

"You ready?" Chi-Chi asked as he came walking towards her.

She'd waited until it seemed like he was done discussing something with Rose before making herself known.

"Hold on a moment. I promise I won't be long."

Chi-Chi waited with crossed arms as he made his way into his personal office likely grabbing some of his effects before emerging once again. Finally. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. In the back of her mind, she'd been thinking about the facial consultation that Auden had mentioned that morning.

"Okay," he said when was within earshot.

She started off immediately out of the building and waited until she was outside to breath a sigh of relief. He wore an amused expression as he observed her.

"Did you get bored?" he asked.

"Not really, I'm just excited to be outside again. It's actually been quite enlightening today."

"I'm glad," he said with a brief nod. "I also took the liberty of making an appointment with the skincare company. We have a few minutes to get there now."

"Well then we better get a move on."

"Agreed."

Soon they were off to the local mall which she'd been to a few times with Bulma. She remembered quite a few trips of window-shopping, looking at things that she couldn't possibly afford on a whim. Every once in a while, when she saved a bit of money, she'd splurge on herself. That felt like another lifetime ago though. These days, she hardly ever ventured out the house. She was in the process of turning a new leaf with Auden's help.

They had to hustle to get to the place as it took time to find an open parking space in the evening and they used an entrance that was far away from their destination. Once there, however, she had to take a deep breath to compose herself. Auden stood nearby waiting patiently. Then she finally stepped in.

"I'll wait for you in the front," Auden told her.

There was a nearly full waiting area in the front, but she'd be admitted in quickly thanks to the set appointment. Apparently, most people didn't bother. She walked up to the front and stated her name. The front desk receptionist smiled in recognition stating that she was just in time. Another woman escorted her further in. The office itself had a very sleek and futuristic aesthetic. Doors slid open quickly and quietly as she walked through and there was a subtle smell of roses in the air.

A very personable lady met her in the room and she looked flawless. She introduced herself and claimed that she was over seventy years old.

"What!?" Chi-Chi exclaimed unable to hide her surprise.

"That's right and I stand by our products. Now let's see if we can help you reach your goals."

They discussed not only the target look she was going for, but other pertinent information like any potential allergens she had or preference as to what sort of application she preferred—lotions, oils, serums, toners, or a combination. Soon after a quick checkup with a device that could pinpoint her key issues, a targeted regimen was put together in the blink of an eye. Chi-Chi could tell that this was high-end because there was no mention of price the entire time and she didn't make the mistake of bringing it up. If she had to make an estimate, it was probably costing well over a thousand dollars. Auden was spoiling her into oblivion and she didn't mind it at all.

"See? Now that was easy, wasn't it?" the woman said with a smile revealing her perfect row of teeth. "Remember, it takes a couple months of consistent application to start seeing the changes, but trust us, you won't regret it once the magic starts happening. Now, we've gone ahead and given you a year's supply—does that sound reasonable?"

"Oh, um, yea-yes, that's fine," Chi-Chi said. Auden hadn't exactly told her that he was on some kind of budget. But a year's supply? She didn't even want to think of the price tag on that.

"And if you like the results, you can always sign up for an annual subscription—most people end up doing that. We're here for you, Chi-Chi, and you can come in as many times as you want free of charge. We'll set you up for a few more appointments to make sure there aren't any complications or any need to make a few changes with the regimen. Okay?"

"Alright," Chi-Chi said, "I can't wait to get started!"

The woman smiled brightly. "Me too. I can't wait to see how you've come along in the coming weeks. Now, do you have any questions for me?"

"I can't think of any right now, but I'll be sure to call if I do."

"Please do! If you can't catch us on our regular business hours, we also have 24-hour customer service on-line and they're very knowledgeable about our products. We've been given a five-star rating on our customer service for over a decade."

"Well, that's good to know," Chi-Chi said nearly overwhelmed now with all the information she was getting.

"We're setting up your personalized box right now as we speak so please follow me out to the front."

She felt just like a pampered princess as she followed the woman back out to the front. She noticed the waiting room wasn't nearly as crowded as before. They were nothing if not efficient. Auden was at the front desk and she almost missed the moment he slid a card—likely his credit card—back into his wallet. Had he already paid for it? He only noticed her a few moments after and he seemed quite pleased to see her again. Chi-Chi found that she wanted to run over and hug him, but she knew almost for certain that he wouldn't like it. Instead, she bounded towards him with more than a little pep.

"You already seem like a new woman," Auden said with the beginnings of a smile.

"Not yet—but give it some time."

The receptionist soon brought out a very cute looking turquoise bag holding the box containing everything she'd need. Just holding it in her hands was making her feel giddy. She wanted to go home right in this instant to try it on, but they had other pressing matters to get to—namely their appointment with the park. Chi-Chi thanked the lady before exiting with Auden. Looking at how she hadn't heard anything about payment—Auden must have discretely paid it upfront. It was ridiculously generous of him and once again she wondered what she was getting into spending so much time with him. She couldn't deny that she was in an impossibly good mood though.

Just so her very premium purchase could remain in good condition, Auden brought her back to his place so that she could store it inside. Then it was off for the park. They arrived a little earlier than yesterday. The sun was still out and beginning to set. The relatively hot day was just beginning to cool down which was perfect for their purposes.

"Well, here we are again," Chi-Chi said brightly.

"Here we are," he repeated in a dreary tone.

"I bet it'll be a little easier today. Now let's get started!"

Despite his misgivings, he was actually quite responsive to her commands. They started with stretching which worked out just as well as yesterday only this time, she couldn't stop herself from giggling at his efforts. She was afraid that he'd be discouraged by this, but he seemed equally as amused. She wasn't sure if he noticed, but she put in a bit more stretches this time for his sake. He obviously needed a lot of help in that department. As before, once they moved on to the basic techniques again, it was smooth sailing. She tested his knowledge on the last session, and he'd retained everything down to the most minute details. Clearly, he'd been paying attention. They did a few more repetitions on the first two techniques to further imprint them into his memory and finally she taught him two more techniques that were more involved.

Here she took her time slowly showing him the proper form. It reminded her of the time she'd taught Goten all those years before only now was a little better because Auden was less obnoxious and more attentive. She didn't have to repeat herself over and over. Dare she say, it was easier than it had been before. Eventually, she was having him repeat the formations and she could practically see the wheels in his mind turning. At first slow, she increased the pace gradually. Then without warning, she told him to perform the first two techniques which he performed without even blinking an eye. It was a beautiful thing to see. She couldn't wait to see just how long that sort of prowess would last as she taught him more and more techniques. She joined in as well—not to fight against him, of course, but to make the same movements. She struck out with far more force than Auden out of habit. Clearly, he wasn't picturing an opponent as she was.

He lasted about as long as last time. She left him to catch his breath as she commenced on her jogging. She was really getting in a lot of exercise today. While she still didn't think she was doing enough, it was much more than what she'd been doing before. She pushed herself to do a few more laps before tapping out. In fact, she might have pushed herself a little too hard as she struggled a bit to get back to where she'd left Auden.

She'd expected him to be on his phone, but he was instead dozing off. Perhaps a full day's work was finally taking its toll. She felt a little bad disturbing one who looked so peaceful, but it had to be done if they were going to get home in a timely manner. Besides, she was already itching to start dinner. It wasn't too difficult to wake him much to her relief and very soon after they were on their way home.

Chi-Chi found herself later on, stirring the pot of stew she'd decided on making in the spur of the moment, humming as she did so. Every once in a while, she'd peek her head out the kitchen to see if Auden was still nearby. The dining room was right outside the kitchen and one had to only take a couple steps to be at the table. He happened to be sitting at the dining room table. They'd been speaking before, but once she became fully engrossed in her cooking, she likely left him hanging on whatever topic they'd manage to get on—she'd already forgotten. He'd taken out his phone at some point, so it wasn't likely he'd be interrupting her anytime soon. She noticed something a little off and took another peek to make sure she'd seen right. He wasn't wearing his eyeglasses as usual. Idly, he tapped the temple tips against his mouth as he squinted at the glowing screen of his phone which was now quite close to his face. It looked unnecessarily difficult, if not outright harmful to his already failing eyesight.

"Auden!" she said loudly, startling him in the process.

He looked at her questioningly.

"Use your glasses already—it's painful just watching you."

"Oh," he said realizing what she was upset about. "I would, but it's really not helping anymore. This is easier."

"What? You mean you have the wrong prescription?" she asked concerned.

"I guess," he said as if he wasn't quite sure of that fact.

"Wait, you've just been using the wrong prescription and you've been driving? That's dangerous!"

"No, this just happened today very gradually now that I think about it. I thought I was just imagining things, but I've had this very subtle headache all day and I'm pretty sure now it's because of these glasses and that I've been straining to see through them. Now everything's blurrier when I put them on."

"Are you going blind then?" Chi-Chi said panicking, "Maybe I should add more carrots into the stew or something."

"I hope not. I probably just need a new prescription. No worries."

"No worries! You could be going blind and no one's supposed to make a big deal about it?"

"It's not that serious. It was bound to happen at some point," he said completely unperturbed as he returned to his previous position.

"But in the meantime," Chi-Chi said stalking over to him and easily taking the phone out of his grasp. "No more bright, computer-y screens!"

"But—wait, I was in the middle of something!" he said in desperation.

"How do you turn the light off on this thing anyway?" she said pressing buttons on the side.

For a split second, their hands touched as he snatched the phone out of her hand much harder than she expected.

"Hey!" she cried out.

"Just hold on—" He paused when he looked at the screen closely. "Shit," he said under his breath.

She thought for a moment that he was actually upset with her, but he silently placed the phone down on the table with the screen turned off.

"Sorry," she said finally when the silence became drawn out and he was staring down at the table as if he was completely lost.

"All my progress is gone—it's fine though," he said with a sigh, "I was struggling to get through it anyway. I was just making things worse. I'm sure I'll come up with something better later on when I'm not forcing it." He put it away in his side pocket.

"It's for your own good," she said before returning to her work in the kitchen.

"But now I'm bored," he complained just loud enough for her to hear over the boiling.

"I won't be too much longer."

In fact, she was almost done as she continued to stir and check the food for doneness. She took out the necessary bowls and poured in a modest amount for each of them. She had no clue how much Auden would want this time so she simply matched it with hers. As it turned out, he ended up going back for seconds and then thirds. She had no idea what to make of that. Despite his increased appetite, she still wound up having to store the rest of the food. It was difficult only cooking for two.

The day was finally winding down and it felt like it had been one of the longest she'd ever had. Her new de-aging products were safely sitting on the floor next to her side of the bed, but she hadn't used them tonight. Purely due to preference, she wanted to start on the new regimen at the start of the day rather than at the end just to keep things equal.

It was much easier to fall asleep that night and Auden was already down for the count. As soon as she closed her eyes, that was all it took. Generally, she wasn't the best at finding sleep in new settings, but his bed was devilishly soft and seemed to always smell faintly of clean linen. It was difficult not to become relaxed especially in the presence of someone who gave off a constant air of placidity.

Chi-Chi found herself sitting in a darkened living room. As she looked around, she realized that it was completely unfamiliar to her. Where was she? Immediately she sensed someone beside her and turned to find Auden there looking at her intently with those piercing blue eyes of his. Had he been there the whole time? Why was she just now noticing him? She couldn't really read his expression, but she knew something wasn't right especially when he leaned in closer. They'd never been that close before at least not like this. Then suddenly he was kissing her—not softly, but aggressively. Her eyes were wide open in fright completely unprepared. When she tried to rip herself away, he yanked her back. She tried to wiggle herself out, but he had an iron grip on her. She tried smacking him, but he ignored it altogether. A yelp escaped her when he bit down on her lower lip.

"Get _off_ of me!" she screamed out angrily. She could feel a trickle of blood sliding down her chin.

He was still fully engaged in kissing her with eyes closed, clearly getting pleasure out of it all. As she pulled back, he leaned forward until she was on her back and he held a more dominant position. He hadn't even bothered to speak. All she could hear was the occasional grunts of satisfaction as he continued to engage her. He seemed to be in his own little world. All her attempts to push him away were futile. It was like fighting against an immovable brick wall.

"STOP, PLEASE STOP!" she cried out in frustration between moments where he paused for a split second to breathe. "AUDEN—STOP! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

Then she was in complete darkness. It took her a moment to realize that she had woken up and that she was back in the bedroom. Out of an irrational fear born from her inexplicable dream, she glanced over at Auden's form beside her. He'd changed positions significantly in the night—while at first on his back now he was on his stomach with his face turned away from her. She breathed a sigh of relief. What in the world just happened? Did that mean anything significant? Should she be worried? She had no idea what to think.

She closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep again. It was beginning to feel like an impossible task. She laid in relative silence and listened to the low hum of a loud but far off HVAC unit along with the whooshing of cars still speeding through the city. Being in the suburbs back at home with Gohan, she wasn't privy to such sounds, but she wasn't particularly bothered by it. Because of the design of the bed, movement on the mattress was almost completely nullified upon contact, but she did feel the subtle shift in weight as Auden moved about. When she glanced over, she found that he was turned towards her now. Still, there was a ton of space between them. Besides, she'd be able to easily defend herself against the actual Auden who probably hadn't touched a dumbbell in his life. She returned to her pretend sleeping, waiting and waiting.

She felt him turning again a total of three more times and the latest one she could have sworn she heard a groan. There was no way he could actually be asleep being so active like this.

"Auden?" she called out.

The only thing she got was more shifting on his part.

"Will you cut it out already?"

This time a few moments later, she could hear moaning coming from his direction muffled though they were by the pillow and it was most likely in discomfort. Was he having a bad dream too? Or worse yet—was it about her?

"Auden," she said a bit louder, but he didn't respond.

He'd turned away from her again and then back to her—clearly tossing and turning. She weighed the options of letting this continue on like this or not, but if his dream was anywhere as frightening as hers perhaps it would be a mercy to wake him up from it. She shook him roughly so that he could snap out of it. Very quickly she found herself fending off flailing arms. She tried to move forward so that she could place calming hands on his shoulders, but he backed off quickly.

"No—please! I didn't mean to!" he cried out before crashing to the ground on the other side taking the comforter with him.

Under better circumstances, she might have laughed at his antics, instead she was just concerned that he'd hurt himself. He hadn't exactly leaped back to his feet. She crawled over the bed and peered down at his sprawled form. She couldn't see him very well and she wasn't familiar enough with his room to find the lamp.

"Are you okay?" All she could hear was his quick heavy breathing as if he was still scared. "It's just me, Auden. Just Chi-Chi, okay?"

"Chi-Chi?" he repeated between breaths. With a groan, she heard him sitting up. "I thought—well, nevermind."

"Having a rough night?"

She waited for him to respond, but he still seemed to be catching his breath and she was left trying to make him out in the darkness.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," he finally said.

"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't having such a great night either."

"I think I just need to use the bathroom," he said quickly.

Though with a little bit of trouble climbing to his feet, Auden left the room in a hurry. She wondered if he really was having a horrible dream about her. She'd wanted to talk about it, but he cut the conversation abruptly.

"Of course," Chi-Chi said to herself. Even someone as soft-hearted as Auden didn't want to talk about such personal, vulnerable things.

She gathered back up the comforter, spread it back on the bed, and laid down again to attempt to sleep again—an endeavor that was quickly becoming a lost cause. The walls were thin, and the bathroom was close by. She would have heard the flushing of a toilet at some point, but many minutes passed and nothing of the like occurred.

"Screw it," she said thrusting the comforters aside.

She climbed out of bed and padded down the hall until she got to the closed door of the bathroom. Instead of alerting him of her presence, she listened carefully. She could hear something faintly, so she crept closer and pressed her ear to the door.

He was quietly sobbing—the quick, uneven intakes of breaths and the sniffles were all telltale signs. Listening to it just made her feel depressed. She had no idea why he was crying, but she felt terrible about it. She wondered if she should let him be for the night. Somehow that felt wrong even if doing anything else was likely intrusive. Chi-Chi sat down and carefully pressed her back up against the door.

"I'm here for you, Auden. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

She wasn't expecting a reply, but she had to let him know that much. Sitting with him seemed like the least she could do. Gradually, the crying did subside after some time. It felt like an eternity had passed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she ventured.

He cleared his throat at this. "I'd rather not. It wouldn't do much good." His voice was surprisingly clear. "You mentioned something earlier about not having a great night?"

"Oh, I wasn't sure you were listening. It's not worth discussing really…" It probably wasn't the best time to bring up the fact that her dream consisted of a very predatory version of Auden that made little to no sense. She couldn't think of any charitable way to interpret it.

"Too personal?"

"Too weird," Chi-Chi corrected.

"Hm," he said thoughtfully.

They were quiet for some time, but Chi-Chi could sense that he was nowhere near ready to go anywhere. He wound up being the one to break the silence.

"I haven't taken my medicine in two days now—maybe this is my just dessert."

"Your medicine?" she asked trying not to reveal that she'd seen his medicine cabinet.

"I'm sure you must have noticed it already in the cabinet, open for any curious person to see."

"Well—

"It's alright. I wasn't trying to hide anything. Aster would be beyond furious if she found out."

"Only you, ultimately, know what you need to take or not take. You know if something is or isn't working for you. No one can tell you that, but yourself."

"For these past couple days, my mind has been so crystal clear. I understand things much quicker, I can absorb things at a pace I haven't seen since childhood. All that fog and cloudiness constantly making each and every task that much more difficult and the constant drain on my energy—all of that was gone. Being able to interact with the world like that? Honestly, it's felt surreal."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"Well, yeah, but—it's not supposed to be that way."

"Who says?"

"My doctor, the one who knows way more about this stuff than I do. I have to take those pills or else…"

"Or else what?" she pressed.

"I'll stop functioning altogether."

She paused for a moment as she let his words sink in. "But you took that risk anyway and now days have passed. Do you feel like you're in danger of returning to that?"

"No, not like how it was before. It's definitely not as bad as it was before. Maybe it's because you've been here."

"I don't control how you deal with your own emotions. Something you've done has changed things."

"I'd like to think that."

"And…maybe this has something to do with your ki."

"That power from before…" he said almost to himself.

"Yeah. Ki definitely has an effect on one's emotions and physical body. From my experience, I know that it can boost your confidence. I mean, I guess I don't have any scientific evidence or anything, but I've seen it all too often. You just have so much of it that I wouldn't be surprised if it was effecting you somehow."

"I have no idea, but I suppose you have more experience with that than I do."

"This is what you should do," Chi-Chi said as an idea came to mind. "Setup an appointment with your doctors—optometrist, psychiatrist, whoever—and have them re-evaluate you. Maybe they'll find something different. Maybe you won't have to take all those pills anymore."

"You really think so?"

"I believe you know what you're talking about so just go get an expert opinion to confirm it. Then you don't have to wonder anymore."

"I think I will take your advice. I have to go at some point to get new prescriptions for my glasses anyway."

"How would you be able to get anywhere in the meantime, if I wasn't here?"

"I'd take a cab."

"Oh," she said after a moment, "Forgot about that."

"Don't worry about me."

"Well, you're not exactly making that easy for me."

"My apologies."

She sat with him a while longer until her eyelids became heavy with tiredness. Though she'd been restless before, now it was apparently gone. With a yawn, she climbed slowly back to her feet—she definitely struggled to do so. Maybe sitting on the floor hadn't been one of her better decisions.

"I'm going back to bed—you should join me whenever you can. You'll feel it in the morning, if you fall asleep in there."

"Yeah, I know," he said wearily.

She waited for a moment longer. When she heard no further movement from him, she trudged back down the hall. Immediately upon entering the room, she could hear his phone vibrating under the pillow. She was tempted to look at it, but instead stilled her curiosity. She was hoping it would stop after a while, but it kept going and going. It was beginning to sound like something urgent. Eventually, when she couldn't take it anymore, she reached under to find out who was calling in the dead of the night. She read the caller ID—Pan. She wondered if she should just answer it…


	9. Machi & Jr.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pan tries to get to the bottom of her grandmother's strange behavior and Bra decides to return home.

"Finally!" Pan said as soon as the ringing stopped and she wasn't switched to voicemail, "I've been trying to call you for ages! Dad has been hounding me for days about Grandma—I told him that she's fine, but he's still really worried. I know she's with you, but I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him that specifically. Seriously though, have you kidnapped her? When are you going to let her go home?"

"Excuse me," Chi-Chi's voice said over the phone, "I was not kidnapped, if you want to know. I chose not to go back home and it's none of his business where I am."

"Grandma?" Pan asked surprised. "This is even better! Could you please just go back home?—Dad is really worried about you. Did you guys have an argument or something?"

"Honey, I don't really feel like discussing this right now. This is between me and him. I'll let him know that I'm fine so he can stop bothering you, okay?"

"Okay," Pan said after a long moment. "But I don't understand. What's going on?"

Pan was currently in Malachi's house with Bra. Dad had called her in the middle of the night and luckily, she'd been awake enough to answer him. It wasn't the strangest thing in the world for him to call her at this hour—he usually worked late into the night while everyone else had already gone to bed. Often times, he would become so laser focused on his work that it would be difficult to even drag him out of the lab for dinner. Pan was sitting on the side of the bed and her best friend was fast asleep on the other side, blissfully unaware of all the panic she was beginning to have.

Initially, she'd been fine with knowing that at least Grandma was safe if she was with Auden, but then as she thought about it, it didn't quite make sense that she'd be with him. Auden hated having strangers over. She hadn't wanted Dad to panic so she continued to reassure him until it came to a head that night and she promised that she'd make sure she'd bring Grandma back home safe and sound.

She heard someone in the background and Grandma speaking to that person.

"It's Pan on the phone," Pan heard Grandma say, "You want to speak to her?—yeah, I guess you're right, she did call you. Don't you dare start that cellphone business up with me again—I don't need one!"

Suddenly, Pan heard Auden's voice but much closer. "Hello, Pan. Did you need something?"

Pan sighed exasperatedly. He wasn't the least bit concerned about anything. She'd called him in the middle of the night after all. Shouldn't he assume that this was some kind of emergency? Then again, Auden was hardly the emotional type, she shouldn't have been surprised. It also seemed like neither of them had actually been asleep. Did anyone actually sleep at reasonable times these days?

"Auden, you should know better. I don't know what's going on anymore, but you can't keep Grandma at your place. I thought you didn't like strangers over there anyway."

"We came to a mutual agreement and she decided to stay here."

"Do you even understand what I'm talking about?" Pan said exasperatedly.

"Honestly, I don't. Chi-Chi is not a child and she is capable of making her own decisions. You and Gohan seem like smart people—I'm sure you know what that means."

She could hear clear irritation in his tone as if _she_ was the one getting on _his_ nerves. Pan couldn't believe it. The voice sounded like Auden, but he certainly wouldn't speak like that to her. She supposed he had a point though. "Well, maybe if she'd let him know beforehand, Dad wouldn't be so worried."

"On that point, you're probably right. Had I known; she could have called him on my phone. I have a feeling though, that this is a bit of a double standard."

"Could you please just tell her to come home?" Pan said desperately. She really didn't want Dad to call her about the same thing.

"It seems she doesn't want to. She'll call him and we can put this matter to rest."

"But why?" Pan asked confused, "Why are you making this difficult?"

"Pan, I will hang up this phone unless you actually have something of substance to talk about. It's late and I'm tired."

Pan was flabbergasted with his agitated tone. "Are you…okay, Auden?"

"Goodnight, Pan—

"W-Wait, I'm being serious," she said quickly. "You sound…different. Is everything okay?"

She could hear him sighing on the other end. "I appreciate your concern, I really do, though I'm a little surprised to hear it."

"What do you mean?"

"You've stopped responding to all of my texts, voicemails and missed calls. I think I got the hint loud and clear."

"Oh," Pan said smacking the palm of her hand on her forehead. "I'm so sorry. I got your messages and everything, but I've been so busy lately. It totally slipped my mind to respond to you. But, yeah, I'm doing fine. Everything's going great actually."

"That's great, but I wasn't particularly upset about that—well, maybe a little annoyed. Like I said, it's late. It hasn't been such a good night for me, and I'd like to get some sleep before another early start as I'm sure is the case for you too."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Auden. Maybe we should talk later."

"Perhaps," he said quickly. "It may not be worth repeating."

Pan suspected that he must have been dealing with nightmares and she knew it had to be tied to why he had to take all those pills. "We'll just see. In the meantime, you're right, I have an early start. 'Till next time and please make sure Grandma calls him—it'll give me peace of mind and I'll love you forever."

"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Auden said amused.

"Goodnight," Pan said.

"Goodnight."

It took Pan a moment to realize how odd it was that Grandma was at Auden's house voluntarily. Did they even know each other? Better yet, where was Grandma sleeping? What was happening? She couldn't for the life of her figure that out. She supposed that she'd found them washing the dishes together so they knew each other existed, but that was for such a short amount of time and she was sure that Grandma must have dragged him in to help her against his will. She shook her head slowly as she tried to understand.

The important part was that Grandma was safe and Dad would stop calling her. She'd been terrible with keeping in contact with Auden for days. She'd tell herself that she was going to reply back and then never actually get to it. Things weren't like they were before. She didn't get the same tension or giddiness at the sight of his text or the idea that he was still thinking about her. After it became established that they were merely friends, she found herself less interested in what he was doing from day to day. He worked 9-5 and then went home. How exciting could his texts be?

Besides, she'd been having a crazy few days with Bra having been dragged to bars and clubs all over town. Pan simply wasn't cut out for that lifestyle, but she had to admit that it had been fun hanging out with Bra like that and getting to know her again. They'd been the perfect couple, and everyone had seemed jealous of them or had simply joined in with their good vibes. She'd made a few new friends too—other lesbians who were probably way too left field for her taste, but they had been nice and fun to be around. Pan didn't quite think she was ready for a threesome or a foursome for that matter.

Bra was currently plastered and wouldn't be waking until tomorrow. Courtesy of her Saiyan blood, she would not be waking with a hangover and thus never suffer any consequences of overconsumption. Pan clicked off her phone and rejoined her under the covers. As odd as it had been being in Malachi's house, now she was getting used to it. She could feel a little closer to him which eased the pain of his loss somewhat. Every once in a while, she could picture him in places. If he could see her now, what would he think?

She'd only been sleeping lightly before though it had been peaceful, playing with Bra's silky strands of hair, running her hands through—something that Bra said she loved. She'd lost track of time doing this and had finally been interrupted with her phone. Now comfortable again on her side of the bed, tiredness set in and she fell asleep instantly.

Upon waking the next day, she found Bra all over her again. Her breasts were apparently Bra's pillow as her head was placed there and her legs entangled with hers. That's why she was so warm and cozy. Slowly, she detangled herself.

"Oommm…Pan, don't go right now," Bra said sleepily.

"I have to," Pan said as she paused. "Work, remember?"

"Forget about work," she said trying to nestle closer to her.

"I can't."

"I don't want you to work anymore. I hate wasting hours of the day waiting for you to come back."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Pan said as she continued in her endeavor though she could feel Bra pulling her back.

"Absence makes the heart grow cold and depressed."

Pan had to put in a little force to push away from her, but eventually she released herself from Bra's enticing grasp. "Well, you might be right about that."

"I know I am." Bra stretched out a little more on the bed and peered up at her with eyes that possessed quite a bit more clarity than Pan was expecting at the moment.

"Hm?" Pan asked. It was as if Bra was trying to tell her something just by looking.

"I love you, Pan."

Bra had told her this several times already, but each time, her heart would skip a beat. "Even in the morning?" she joked.

Bra giggled, smiling a bit more. "More so."

Pan bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Love you too."

Pan had brought over a number of her clothes to put in the closet alongside Bra's. It had gotten to a point that it felt almost painful to spend a night apart from her. On the flipside, she hardly spent much time at her own place which she was still paying rent for. There was a small part of her that was hesitant. Everything still felt so new. This had all started so unexpectedly and she wasn't sure if this would last even if Bra seemed genuine. She was different, but Pan knew from experience that people could only change so much. Pan had known her for a very long time. She knew that Bra had a penchant for loving people for a little while and leaving them abruptly without a care in the world. She'd even done it to Malachi once upon a time and he'd been severely hurt emotionally—he may not have ever truly recovered. She didn't want to go through that as well. That sort of pain was extraordinarily traumatic and despite how different Bra happened to be now, Pan wasn't sure if she understood that.

She'd spent night after night with Bra and Pan wasn't sure she ever wanted to return to her lonesome bed. Pan quickly got herself ready. After checking the time, she realized that she was ahead of schedule. Bra had gone back to sleep as was her habit. She wasn't really functional until the afternoons anyway and she hated breakfast with a passion. Pan, on the other hand, needed food on a constant basis. She still hadn't gotten up the nerves to cook in Malachi's kitchen so as she'd been doing for a while now, she sat down in a nearby restaurant to have her quality large breakfast.

She felt a little guilty about ignoring Auden's messages. At the time, it hadn't felt like such a huge deal, but in hindsight she knew that wasn't true. They'd been communicating with each other regularly and he'd made it clear that he enjoyed that. He'd sounded so different last night. Had she actually pissed him off? She couldn't stand to have anyone feel that way about her even if it was unintentional. Usually she would text him, but this time, as she waited for her food, she decided it was important enough to actually call. She couldn't remember if he'd be at work by now or still getting ready.

"Yes?" he answered after the second ring.

He'd never answered his phone like that before and she was completely caught off guard. "Is this Auden?"

"This is him," he said with a chuckle, clearly amused.

Pan paused for a moment longer and then responded. "Is everything alright with you?"

"I'm fine, Pan."

"I didn't mean to blow you off like that. I really was busy, but I promise I'll make it up to you—

"Pan, it's alright. Sometimes people grow apart. I enjoyed the time we spent together. I'm not really all that upset with you. You just caught me at a bad time last night."

It almost sounded as if they were breaking up, but were they ever truly together? "About that—did you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

She wondered if he would have done so if she hadn't blown him off for so long. "What are you doing right now?"

"Well, I was about to enjoy this far too decadent breakfast before I was interrupted."

"Oh, you're ordering out too."

"No, I just happen to personally know a five-star chef."

"Wait, you wouldn't be talking about Grandma, would you?"

"Who else?" he replied as if it was obvious.

The idea that he was sharing breakfast with Grandma at his place was jarring. It still didn't make sense and she was beginning to think she was missing something fundamental.

"Pan? You still there? Let's talk later. I don't have a lot of free time at the moment."

"Oh, right. Sorry for interrupting."

"We don't usually call each other though—you must have had something urgent to talk about."

"No, it was nothing like that. I'll just call you later then."

They hung up soon after, but it left her with far more questions than answers. She cut into her pancakes, but before she could place the food into her mouth a crazy thought stilled her hands. What if Auden liked Grandma? The fact that she was actually at his place for this long was so ludicrous that her mind hadn't even begun to acknowledge the implications. She hadn't even been able to stay at his place for more than a few hours before his nerves got the better of him. What in the world could be happening now? None of it was adding up. The more she thought of it, the more disgusted she became. She once again started on her food.

Was Grandma forcing herself onto him? She couldn't imagine it being the other way around. Did they both mutually…? It was disturbing on multiple levels. She couldn't imagine Grandma with anyone other than Grandpa and she definitely wasn't into dating. Did she even know what dating was? But more than that, Auden could not have spent more than a few moments with her at her parents' place and he'd been roped into doing the dishes. How could it go from that to her spending now over a couple days at his place? Even more insidious was the thought that Auden had dumped her for her own Grandma. As patient as she was with him, suddenly he's taken interest in someone entirely different and Grandma was not known for her patience—she was loud and obnoxious at the best of times. Auden couldn't possibly get along with such a personality or even remotely be attracted to it.

A more rational side of her noted that they were around the same age. They both experienced parenthood. Come to think of it, they liked keeping things nauseatingly clean—Pan had certainly noticed how orderly Auden liked to keep things. Grandma could only dream of keeping the house in that condition—she often became fussy when people didn't put things back and she was forever cleaning some part of the house. They both liked cooking—Auden probably couldn't hold a candle to Grandma but as a single parent, it's likely that he made food on a daily basis. Before she could think of any other similarities, she took a long swig from her tall cup of cranberry juice.

They were incompatible. End of story. It was ridiculous to be even entertaining the idea that nothing was wrong with this picture. Hadn't Grandma gotten into a fight with Dad and that's why she had taken off in the first place? That's what her Dad had implied. Clearly Auden had felt sorry for her and was forced to let her stay when she refused to go back home. What if Auden was suffering right now in silence? Maybe that's why he'd been so upset when she called. She could imagine Grandma taking advantage of Auden with her demanding nature. How could she have been so blind? She needed to do something quickly. Who knew how much of Grandma he could withstand? He'd be going to work today as usual, so she had some time to go and rectify the situation. She'd try to leave a little early today and then make a beeline to Auden's place. She simply couldn't let this continue!

If only she'd kept in contact with him. Maybe he'd feel comfortable enough to divulge about what was really bothering him. Guilt began to settle in as she quickly finished off her breakfast. What if Auden had actually wanted to be more than just friends with her, but he'd been too shy to say it because she was being too needy or pushy? Had she been misreading the signs again? Honestly, she couldn't be sure. The only way she'd have clarity would be rehashing the same conversation she'd already had with him. Each of those times had been on the phone. It might be better to see him in person. She was better at reading people when she could see their expressions. Though Auden was difficult to read on the best of days, she still had to try or else be plagued with these concerning questions.

All of this was likely just a misunderstanding that she wasn't fully aware of yet. Grandma was just mad, and all she had to do was talk it out with Dad and everything would go back to normal—at least normal for that part of her life. Since Malachi's passing, nothing felt "normal" anymore and each day was a struggle convincing herself each day that she should keep pushing forward with life rather than giving up altogether. Bra had made it somewhat easier. It was hard not to cling desperately onto her affection. Pan was sure that Bra was doing the same.

She was already missing Bra's presence. Working with animals had been something she enjoyed doing and gave up a good portion of her day to do so, but these days, the world was gray. Apparently, only Bra could bring color back to it. Having a nice, filling breakfast was also helpful emotionally. She'd made the mistake of missing out on it and she'd barely made it through the day finding it increasingly difficult to stop herself from curling up into a ball in a dark corner.

With a sigh, she paid her bill and drove off to another long day of pet care.

* * *

Lunch break couldn't come soon enough. She had two simultaneous emergency operations to deal with right before that and it set her break back an hour. While it wasn't anything that was out of the norm, it had certainly set the tone for the day. Her personal life was put to the backburner as she placed her full concentration on work. Then it all came tumbling back as she finally had some free time. She hadn't bothered bringing something from home, so she'd have to decide which food place to order from. An idea came to her as she strolled out of the front entrance of the clinic. What if she could join Auden for lunch like they'd done before? She looked at her watch and realized that he would likely be on his way to that now. Or maybe he was late as well, one could never tell. They'd often coordinate these things beforehand. He didn't like deviating from his set schedule either, so it was risky calling him for something spur of the moment. She did it anyway.

"Hello?" he asked after the fifth ring. She must have caught him at a bad time.

"Hey," she said with a smile in her voice. "I was just wondering if you wanted to do lunch together."

"It's been a while since we've done that, huh?" he said thoughtfully.

"Yeah—

"Unfortunately, I've already had lunch."

"Wait, you went earlier today? Must not have been a busy day for you."

"I'm not at work. I had a couple of appointments scheduled today. I'm on my way to the last one at the moment."

"Oh…Well, maybe tomorrow?"

"Hm, probably not. Maybe some time in the future though."

"You know, Auden, it almost seems like you're actively trying to avoid me."

"It's just not a good time. With present company, it might be a bit awkward," he finally admitted.

"You mean with Grandma? I know her better than you and we've had lunch together plenty of times. Is she with you right now?"

"No—

"Alright, then this is the perfect time to ask—has she been harassing you? I know she can be a bit much and I don't want you to feel like you have to do everything she says, okay?"

"It's not like that," he said with some confusion, "If you want to talk to her, she's at my place. I think. Well, she could have gotten bored and decided to attempt walking somewhere—but she's fine. Also, I'm fine. I hope that answers your concerns."

"I'm being serious here," Pan continued. "I know it's not in your nature to bother or upset people and I know how she can be sometimes. If you need me to take her off your hands, just let me know. I completely understand."

"Pan, I'm not sure what you're getting at. I think you might be under the wrong impression. It's not like this is some kind of hostage situation."

"But…I know you don't like having strangers at your place."

"Usually," he said with a sigh.

"So that's why I'm worried."

"There's nothing to be worried about. I promise you. This has to be the third time you've called asking if I'm alright. I'm wonderful. Everything is perfect. No one is coercing me to do anything."

"Perfect?" Pan asked hearing the word leap out at her. "I guess I just don't understand."

She was waiting for him to explain further as he paused before responding.

"How would you like it if I began to agonize over every single relationship you had in your life and demand details over the phone?"

"Auden—it's different and you know it."

"Oh? Is it because you're less susceptible to being hurt in a relationship?"

Pan sighed exasperatedly at this. Now suddenly he was deciding to be less than forthcoming about things.

"Are you going to answer that question or just keep breathing into my ear?"

"You know the answer."

"Though I hate bringing up old news, let's not pretend that you didn't break down in tears over me clarifying what I thought was obvious about our relationship. You wanted more from me than what I was willing to give. We were on two different pages. And yet, I haven't felt the need to hassle you about how you're spending your time or with who."

Even bringing up that embarrassing episode was making her tear up a little in shame. She'd been so stupid and allowed her emotions to take over. It was so naïve! Admittedly, it didn't make her quite the authority on relationships that she sometimes saw herself as. "That wasn't my best moment."

"I'm still sorry about that. I only bring it up to let you know that despite that, I would respect any decision you make in your life. I know you're very capable of making good decisions without having someone analyzing them to death. I was hoping you could afford me that same respect."

"Alright," she said after a moment. "I hear you loud and clear. You want me to butt out of your business. I just want to let you know that I'm always here for you. You can tell me anything and I won't judge."

"I know. I haven't forgotten that."

"Well, then, I guess we'll just have to catch up later."

"I'm sure we will at some point."

It was extremely vague, but that was all she could get him to commit to. They were still friends at the very least. It was odd though. Being just friends with him without the possibility of taking things further somehow made her interest lessen. If she was being honest with herself, that was the entire reason why she'd even gone down that road with him in the first place. She had been lonely and desperate. She wondered if she would have given him the time of day had that not been the case.

Her phone started vibrating again. She picked it up quickly when she saw it was Bra. "Hey, girl."

"So? Are you free for lunch now?"

"You caught me at the perfect time."

"Then get over here already! We'll go to that bar down the street."

"You know I can't drink on the job."

"I would never dream of having you do that—you know the bar sells more than just alcohol right? I love their wings. I've been craving that since this morning, but I was too lazy to leave the house."

"I'll come rescue you then."

They hung up soon after with something to look forward to. She hadn't even decided on what place to go, but Bra was always decisive when it came to what to eat. Must be nice always craving something specific each day. Pan's palate wasn't quite so convenient or forthcoming. She couldn't think of anything she hated eating.

It didn't take long for her to join up with Bra and eventually arrive at the beforementioned bar. By the time they'd gotten there, Pan was hungry enough to want to order the entire menu. If it weren't for the time constraints, she might have ended up doing it. Pan ordered three orders of the dozen chicken wings. On first bite, she was absolutely in heaven. This was perfect. Why hadn't she heard of this place before?

"See?" Bra said observing her on the other side of the table, "The best wings."

Bra also had a pint of draft beer as well that she was currently "sipping" from or more like chugging. Pan had to suffice with a glass of Root Beer.

"You always know where to go."

"Well, that's the benefit of going to every single eatery in existence in this city."

"You should be a food critic. Make a blog or something about West City."

"Oh, please. Tons of people already do it and I wouldn't have the patience."

"But coming from you, someone who's already somewhat famous, it might be different."

"Hmm," Bra said thoughtfully, "I guess."

Pan continued her steady consumption of the first plate of wings basking in the tender and juicy meat slathered in a flavorful barbeque sauce. She could tell the wings were grilled rather than baked or deep fried. It took her a moment to notice a subtle shift in mood from Bra. Pan was ever weary about Bra's generally good mood as of late. There was still a lot of pain under the surface and she was likely distracting herself from wallowing in it. Anytime she wanted to talk, Pan always made time for her. Usually, it would happen in the dead of night after all was quiet and she was left to her own thoughts. Pan wondered how Bra had fared on her own that morning. Had it been excruciating? Had she been too flippant about needing to go to work despite Bra all but begging her to stay?

Bra had finished her beer and was looking across the room at the other patrons having quiet conversations amongst themselves. She'd barely tasted her food. It was obvious that something was weighing on her mind. Pan waited patiently for her to finally speak on it. After halfway finishing the second order of chicken wings, Bra broke the silence.

"Hey, so what are you doing after work?"

"Coming back to check on you. I kind of unofficially live there at this point, right?"

"Pretty much. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any plans. What do you think about going back home—well, back to my home…"

"With Machi and Jr.?" Pan asked instinctively sensing where this was going.

"Yeah. Back to my children. I've been putting off dealing with them, but now I really miss them, and I know I'm being a terrible parent right now."

"I think you did the right thing distancing yourself like you did. You were in no condition to take care of them and you probably would have done a lot more harm than good if you'd forced things. I mean, not a lot of people have the luxury of taking a vacation from their kids, but you do, and I think that was for the best."

"You can't really think that. You don't have to sugarcoat everything with me. I'm not that fragile. At least…not right now."

"I'm being one hundred percent honest with you, Bra. I think you did right."

"And do you think it's a good idea to go back now?"

"Only you can know that. I think you're doing a lot better than before. You're more like yourself."

"That's the problem though. I don't want to be like myself. I want to be better than that. Myself really wouldn't have time messing around with kids, but I know I can't just avoid them."

"I think you're different now, but the only way we can figure out how much so, is by actually seeing how you do with the kids."

"Yeah, I thought that too. That's why I have to do this. I want you to be with me."

"Of course. It's a bit spur of the moment though. Have you let anyone know that you're coming?"

Bra shook her head no sheepishly.

"Bra!"

"I know! I just keep losing my nerves whenever I pick up the phone to call."

"I'm sure they'll understand. They're waiting for you I'm sure."

"I know that too, but I still feel really guilty. I just run away and then on some day that's convenient, I just declare that I'm ready to pick up my responsibilities again like everything's okay."

"I have a feeling that you're punishing yourself more than anyone else. Your parents are the least judgmental people I've ever met. They'll accept you—and it's not like they ever denounced you in the first place."

Bra sighed at this.

"How about this? I'll call them and let them know that you want to come home."

"No, I'll do it. It's the least I can do. I just have to build up the nerves."

Pan looked at her for a moment and saw that she was determined. "Alright then," she said returning to her food. "I'll leave it to you."

From her peripherals she could already see a smile returning to her face and that set her at ease. After a moment, Bra too began on her food again. It was probably getting cold anyway. Bra cleaned off her plate well before Pan and the waiter took her dishware away. Then without any provocation, she climbed out of her seat and plopped down next to her.

"You should have ordered more if you wanted more," Pan declared, sliding her plate away from her and scooting over a little.

Bra giggled. "That's not why I sat here."

Pan looked at her questioningly. Bra advanced on her and Pan quickly understood what she wanted to do. Pan's lips, still sticky from the barbeque were being cleaned off by Bra. She was so surprised, that she scarcely knew how to react.

"Ummm, it tastes better on chicken though," Bra said playfully as she paused.

Since she was being so irresistible at the moment and so very close, for a brief moment, Pan forgot about her food and decided to sate her other appetite which she hadn't paid much attention to that day until now. Pan engaged her a bit more forcefully this time much to Bra's delight as she was able to let out a laugh when Pan pulled her closer and soon they were simply making out in the booth. Bra was so close now that she was able to place her leg over Pan's. Bra pulled back a little so that she could breathe, but then she was reinvigorated again. They continued like this for some time exploring each other's lips and mouth—cleaning off all the food debris eventually. Pan hadn't even noticed when her food was taken away and she was only mildly annoyed by the time she actually looked.

Pan pulled back for the last time. "I gotta' go."

"You always gotta' go. Why do you have to keep working? I'll take care of you." Bra had leaned in on the last sentence and spoke quietly into her ear. Her chin rested on her shoulder and Pan wrapped an arm gently around her.

"Sorry," Pan said after a while equally as quietly.

Pan didn't think she'd ever be comfortable letting someone else take care of her and even now, she still had a few reservations about their relationship.

"Hmph," Bra said lightly with a hint of despondency.

Pan moved a little to let Bra know that she was being serious and finally they both proceeded to climbing out the booth. It took Pan a moment to notice how quiet the room had become and that various lusty eyes were turning away to pretend to be focusing on other things. They were drawing far too much attention. Almost at the snap of a finger, the air became filled with quiet conversation. Bra had a bold smile on her face and the guy who had briefly been their waiter was confident enough to wink and grin at them. Pan gave him a quick wave though her face was turning red with embarrassment. Of course, Bra was always the instigator of PDA and Pan almost always followed along. She was glad to be out of the now tense atmosphere.

"You love embarrassing me in public," Pan said as they walked the short distance to her car.

"Oh, shut-up, like you don't secretly love the attention."

"I don't!"

"Um-hm, sure."

Pan couldn't convince her otherwise and, truthfully, it wasn't really a hill she was willing to die on. Besides, there might be a grain of truth hidden in there. Bra almost always brought out sides to her that she would much rather keep subdued. Pan had grown up in a very conservative family and manners had been drilled into her on a daily basis. It had long since infused with her own personality. It was nice sometimes to step outside that façade. For a brief moment, it felt freeing.

Lunch had ended too soon, and she was diving headlong back into work. The rest of the day went smoother than the first, but this was mainly because of the good mood she was in since making out with Bra. She had several difficult patients that day and she had to deal with a few annoyingly negligent owners. And yet, by the end of the day, a smile could still easily appear on her face. The real hard part of the day would be taking Bra back home. Before that—because she was sure Bra was dreading the moment she came home to take her—she wanted to check on Auden.

She'd called Auden a few times that day already and he'd been closemouthed about whatever was happening with him. Being the good friend she was, she couldn't just let that slide. She would pay him a visit in person—and it would be a surprise visit. Generally, she didn't like surprising people like that, but this felt like a dire situation and she wanted to set everything straight as soon as possible. The thought of Auden unnecessarily suffering because of her own grandmother was almost too much to bear. They were both nice people, but Grandma had a penchant for doing whatever she pleased, and Auden was extremely nonconfrontational. It was a recipe for disaster. Anyone could deduce what was happening.

It was a bit of drive to get to Auden's place. He was practically on the other side of town and close to his workplace. She parked quickly as her anticipation grew. After climbing up a flight of stairs, she was soon standing in front of his door. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to knock. Right before her knuckles hit the door, she stopped herself. What if the door was already unlocked? That would indicate immediately if something was wrong. She discretely turned the metal knob and heard a tiny clink—it was locked.

"Fine," she said under her breath and finally knocked.

She waited a little expecting Auden. When the door creaked open a little, she was presented with Grandma instead.

"Pan?" her grandma said opening the door a little wider. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Pan said with surprise. "You're answering his door now?"

"Well, he's not here, honey. He's a little late, in fact, but you know how those doctor's appointments go—they always keep you waiting. Since you're here, why don't you come in?"

"Sure, but I won't be staying long. I just wanted to check up on things."

Grandma laughed at this as she turned. "How nice of you. I'd be concerned too if I were in your shoes. That man takes a million and one pills and he's always here alone—a recipe for disaster if you ask me. Although, I think he's managed quite well."

"Level with me, Grandma," Pan said closing the door behind her, "What's the real reason you're here? Is it something between you and Dad?"

"Oh, give it a rest, child. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I'm fine and I can protect myself if need be."

"That didn't remotely answer my question."

"Well, that's my answer, honey," she said wearily as she sat down on the nearby couch.

The place was still immaculate, and nothing was out of place, but something was different. There was a bit more color perhaps. His living room which they were occupying right now, looked less like a museum and more like a place someone might use. Was there a new lamp in here that hadn't been there before?

"Any other burning questions for me?" her grandma asked.

Pan frowned at her. She was doing it too then as if this arrangement was all a big secret. "I just want to make sure you're not taking advantage."

"Is that right," she answered amused. "Do you really think I'd do that? I know your dad is very concerned about my whereabouts, but at this point it's none of his business how I choose to spend my time. Did he send you out again so you can go and report back to him?"

"It's not like that."

"Then how is it like?"

Pan shook her head in irritation. "Listen, I know Auden pretty well. He doesn't just let people stay here. He barely wanted to invite me over and when I was forced to barge in because he was nonresponsive—he had one of those panic attacks—

"I've heard about Auden and his issues from Bulma. You don't have to give me a play by play. Everyone's told me to be careful, that he's delicate, that anything could set him off, but I really haven't seen that since I've been here. And I was completely ready to tread lightly. I think he's improved, and I think I've been able to help him do that."

"Those are some bold claims," Pan said unconsciously folding her arms defensively. "How exactly have you 'helped' him?"

Her grandma wore an amused expression. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a little jealous."

Pan looked at her shocked. "I'm not. You don't know him like I do. I'm glad nothing terrible has happened so far, but there's always chance things could go downhill rapidly."

"There's a chance for everybody, isn't there?" her grandma said back quizzically. "All we need is one bad day to have everything unravel. Do you know how many people I have to 'tread lightly' around so I don't hurt their feelings or egos? Yes, your dad is one of those people. And Goku lost his mind a long time ago. He won't even come back to visit me and it's difficult for me to say that he doesn't care, it's just that he hasn't decided to do it. That's insane. And when he turns into that yellow haired delinquent, I don't really know him anymore. Auden is far more sane than that with normal human issues that can be worked on, but more than that, he's willing to admit that he does have issues and actively works on them. What about you, Pan? Are you ever going to ask yourself why you thought it was a good idea to check up on a friend you haven't spoken to in some time? Or are you just going to tell yourself that you're doing this to 'help' someone?"

"Grandma…I had no idea you felt that way…" Pan found herself at a loss of words. In fact, it was a lot to take in all at once. "I'm sorry."

"Honey, you have nothing to be sorry about."

"No," Pan began slowly. "If I'm being honest with myself, I came here because I thought it was crazy that you weren't at home anymore. You're always there and I couldn't imagine it being any different. I thought something was going on. I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around the fact that Auden would be fine with you being here. I still don't really know why that's the case, but from all the evidence I've gathered, that's just how it is."

"I don't know, Pan, maybe something is going on, maybe it's not. I'm comfortable here for the time being. I don't know when I'm coming back home. I don't know if I want to."

"Can I ask you why?" Pan asked suddenly shy. She knew she might be asking a question that was too personal.

"I told you. I feel more comfortable here."

Pan looked at her, opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She wasn't sure how to structure her next question.

"You want to know more, right?" Grandma said with a knowing look.

"Are you guys…" Pan could hardly get the question out. "…dating?"

Grandma looked at her with creased eyebrows. "You kids—always trying to put a label on things. I don't think I'd call it that, but I guess… 'technically'."

"But he's nothing like Grandpa," Pan blurted out, "And he's ace, he has a normal job, he's super into technology—

"I noticed," Grandma said with a laugh. "They're not the worst traits I've ever heard."

Grandma seemed to be fine with those things she'd listed. What exactly did that mean? Pan didn't think it was her place to grill her on what exactly about Auden she liked or how this somehow made staying here more 'comfortable', but that didn't mean that she didn't desperately want to know. Perhaps seeing them interact together would have answered those questions, but she didn't have time to wait for Auden's arrival considering her plans with Bra.

"Alright, Grandma, I have to go. I'm a little late to something."

"Alright, then, honey. Don't be a stranger."

"Oh, I won't. I have to keep an eye out on you kids."

Grandma laughed at this genuinely entertained by the notion. She left soon after. Pan hadn't told anyone what she and Bra had been doing for the past few days. It would have been a little embarrassing and perhaps she was the pot calling the kettle black. Viewing it in that light, Auden might have been embarrassed as well or just didn't have a convenient label to put on the situation and that's why they weren't exactly being forthcoming with information. If her conversation with her grandmother was any indication, it was just complicated. Pan supposed she could say the same about herself. It was too soon to define things. All of this could just be some sort of coping mechanism with Malachi's loss. Their relationship was definitely helping with the pain of loss that was always just under the surface. At any time, those emotions could boil over and she could just be crying at the most random times. She could simply have the wrong thoughts or see the wrong things. Pan had successfully kept her emotions in check for the most part, but it was an uphill battle. She wondered if taking Bra back to the Briefs' household would trigger anything.

Bra was solemn as she climbed into the car. She hadn't taken anything with her, so it didn't quite feel like she was moving from one place to the other.

"Did you let them know?" Pan asked.

"Yes," she said simply as she stared out the car window.

"I bet they were really excited."

"They were. I told them not to do anything drastic. They can get carried away sometimes."

"So I've heard. They'd have some huge homecoming party for you all planned out in a few seconds."

"Yeah," Bra said with a grin. "Overkill. I'm sure Bunny couldn't help but make something a little special."

"I'm sure Machi and Jr. can't wait to see you again."

"Yeah…if they even remember me," she said quietly.

"You can always make new memories."

"That's true."

Pan left it at that waiting for Bra to say something more. When she was quiet, Pan deduced that she probably wasn't in a talkative mood. She could feel an anxious energy coming from her as she tapped her feet at irregular intervals or tapped her fingers on the armrest. It was completely understandable. Even if she really wanted to go back home, it still made sense. She just didn't know what to expect and as far as Pan knew, she wasn't the most attentive mother. She'd told her before in what feels like a lifetime ago even before she'd met Malachi that she'd make a horrible mother and that she'd never consider having kids unless she knew she had someone she could throw all the responsibilities on. That person had been Malachi and he was no longer here to shoulder the responsibility. What was more depressing was that, by all accounts, he'd been quite enthusiastic about the prospects.

But this was all just temporary, right? Soon all would be right in the world once the planet was located. Then this could all just be a distant memory. They'd give Malachi a piece of their minds for not taking better care of himself. Bra would stop being so reckless and Pan could go back to secretly pining over him—well, perhaps she couldn't do that last part since she'd stupidly admitted to it. Everything had been so in the moment, and it was difficult to do things according to what might happen in the future.

Even if he came back though, it wouldn't be easy. He couldn't do the same thing he'd been doing. The whole world knew he was dead. Unless they were willing to make another wish in which everyone forgot about that, he would have to be someone else. Malachi had a secret addiction to prescription pain relievers and sedatives. They would have to actually deal with that or be doomed to repeat the same incident. It could be that other conditions led to him seeking other forms of 'help' because he felt desperate enough, but this was all just speculation. Another concern she'd had recently, though she'd never voice it was that they didn't actually know what he would look like upon return. They really only had one childhood image of him before he'd been adopted by Quint and it was a low quality picture in a black and white local newspaper mentioning that he'd won a talent show—he looked vastly different there, completely different. It became clear in Pan's mind that his appearance must have been altered significantly since that time. Quint would certainly be the type to do such a thing—after all, he groomed Malachi from his mangy beginnings into a star that no one would ever associate with poverty and abandonment. Though Malachi might have hinted at that, he wasn't exactly candid about the extent. They'd fallen for the Malachi with the fair skin, deep dark eyes, and pin-straight hair. What if when he was revived, he turned out to be something other than expected? How did regeneration even work? Were you restored to the last known previous version of yourself or was it based on one's DNA rather than appearance?

There were simply too many question marks around Malachi and she and Bra had long since come up with a list of questions they'd ask him to put an end to all the mystery. After all, if they were successful in bringing him back, wouldn't he be in their debt and more willing to answer questions? At the very least, they hoped he'd be grateful. But there was always a chance that he wouldn't be. There was always a chance that he truly was suicidal and bringing him back would be a nuisance and waste of time.

No, she had to believe everything would be alright with just a single wish. A long-lasting happiness would ensue. She had to believe that or else struggling through each grim and dreary day would become impossible. Her thoughts paused as she felt her tear ducts beginning to fill. Now was not the time. As she usually did, she thrust her despairing thoughts aside and focused on the here and now.

Pan had no idea where to park the car as usual, but luckily Bra had been there to direct her to the garage closest to the main house. The residence seemed like a small city. There was no way they used every square inch of the place. She remembered as a child when she used to visit more often that Bra would claim that they hired maids every so often to clean out the unused areas and that lawn care people came on a regular basis.

A few minutes later, they were at the front door and Bra had a key. She didn't even hesitate to use it as Pan thought she would. They simply strolled through the luxurious foyer tastefully decorated in blue and white as she remembered and moved to where they heard voices in the family room nearby on their left. An arched entryway led them into quite an expansive room with very comfortable sofas and couches with a ridiculously large flat screen currently turned off, centered on the back wall.

It was late in the evening now and they all seemed to be there. Pan noted the grandparents, Trunks and his now wife Terri, Bulma, and even Vegeta who was not hiding out in a corner as he usually did. Then again, it had been a while since Pan had talked to him properly. The Son and Brief family lived such separate lives that it was difficult to keep up with what they were doing and how they were. Pan and Bra received an almost simultaneous greeting from them as soon as they walked in as if it had been some kind of surprise party. Pan immediately noticed that Jensen was missing as well as Machi and Jr. Bra had a very good-looking family and soon she was getting hugged by everyone. Bra went to the grandparents first probably as a courtesy and Bulma approached her at this time with a very welcoming smile on her face. Her mother only wished to exude this much friendliness. Pan recalled times as a child that it had been easier to tell Bulma things and then have Bulma explain things to her mother.

"I'm glad you're here," Bulma said when she was within earshot. She gave her a quick hug. "I know you had a huge part in her deciding to come back."

"Oh, no," Pan said not wanting to steal Bra's shine, "This was her decision."

"Say what you will," she said with a grin, "But I know Bra—making big decisions like these isn't really her style."

Pan noticed Bra move from the grandparents to Vegeta who openly embraced her, an act that caught her off guard. He wasn't quite as aloof as she remembered, and she wondered how far that went. Could she theoretically approach Vegeta and get a hug too? Maybe it wasn't the best time to push her luck. The one he gave Bra seemed to last for some time—he was saying something to her. Pan's hearing picked up on his low, rumbling voice: "I've missed you," Vegeta said in a tone that Pan registered as very sincere. "Yeah, I know," Bra said in equally quiet tones. This conversation seeming too intimate, she turned her attention back to Bulma and now Trunks and Terri who had approached. Pan congratulated them on their marriage. They're wedding must have been a quiet affair which was strange. Pan couldn't believe that Bulma wouldn't have gone all out. She'd have to ask about that later. Terri was practically sparkling. The bright lights overhead enhanced her red hair's natural sheen and she wore a short kimono dress that revealed shapely legs. Wasn't she a prolific author as well? She was beautiful and brilliant. Small wonder why Trunks would be attracted to such a person.

"Alright, everyone, dinner is about to be served!" Bunny announced as she walked towards the kitchen. Clearly, she'd been waiting on something to finish up or she just decided to keep everyone waiting until now.

Pan could already smell where the food was coming from. She could never tell who cooked better, her grandmother or Bra's grandmother. At the moment, it was Bunny, considering the feast she was going to be putting out on the dining table. There were four Saiyans to contend with—it would have been pretty difficult to gauge just how much they could put down.

A decent sized dining room table seated them all comfortably. Pan sat next to Bra and then beside her, Bulma. On the other side was Vegeta, Dr. Brief, Bunny, Trunks and Terri. Bunny was already busy setting the food out and Pan was presented with an astonishing spread of food. She couldn't imagine eating so well, so late. Now that it was in front of her, though, she wasn't really complaining. She'd pictured things going a bit differently, but she supposed this was fine as well.

Pan noted that the atmosphere was a bit subdued and it seemed as if they were all holding their breaths for something. People made their plates at their leisure. There was no formal order to anything. And though she was used to seeing at least Vegeta and Trunks easily demolishing plates, for some reason, they were being far more conscientious. Well, perhaps, it made more sense for Trunks as he generally displayed restraint on special occasions. Seeing this, she decided to do the same—not that she was in the habit of stuffing her face silly, but when no one was looking…

It was a very civilized table—her grandma would hardly believe her if she told her. She'd always gotten the impression from her own mom that the Briefs weren't exactly known for their manners and on many occasions, Pan had seen evidence of that.

"So, Dad, I heard you were working for Tien," Bra said breaking the quietness of the meal.

"I'm working with Tien—not for," he clarified. Pan could hear Bulma snorting at this beside her.

"Right," Bra said teasingly. It was likely only Bra could get away with that tone without things quickly turning sour. "So how has that been?"

His food was forgotten for a while as he genuinely gave her question some thought. "It's been enlightening. His training style is far different from mine—there's more emphasis on technique rather than the brutality. It's more humane and allows people who otherwise would have been intimidated to learn something worthwhile."

"You mean beating the shit out of people isn't the best way to train?" Trunks said with humor so subtle that Pan wasn't entirely sure it was there. Terri shoved him in the ribs.

"Well, you could handle it more than most, couldn't you? Besides, I was far more restrained with you than my father ever was with me," Vegeta said looking squarely at Trunks who eventually looked away.

Pan could only imagine what Vegeta meant by that. She had no inkling of what Saiyan culture was like back on their planet or if there were any added layers when it came to royalty, but the way Vegeta was described as being back then, it was likely far more harsh than what was healthy. It would have been an interesting conversation to have with Vegeta—to learn something about her heritage, but she never knew him well enough for that and it never seemed like the right time. Especially not now.

"Tien has his own staff who keeps the dojo running, but he's the only trainer there," Vegeta continued. "It's apparently difficult to find decently knowledgeable martial artists in that area. I don't exactly have any official ranks, but he knows me."

"Maybe I might go check it out," Pan said before she could stop herself. It's not like she needed more training…but being trained by Vegeta seemed like a gold standard. She'd missed out on her grandfather and her father couldn't be bothered anymore.

"You'd fit in—you should drag Bra along as well."

Pan found her cheeks becoming a little rosy not expecting his response. She glanced over at Bra who shook her head and rolled her eyes. Yeah, the idea of Bra fighting did seem a bit farfetched.

"So you've gotten so bored that you've stooped down to human standards of fighting," Trunks said. Again, Pan wasn't exactly sure if this was sarcasm or not.

Vegeta observed Trunks silently which was a lot more chilling than just arguing back immediately. "Humans seem capable enough at using ki and there are many established fighting styles among them," he said turning back to Bra, "One would have to be braindead to not see any potential there."

"Somehow, I still feel sorry for those students if they have you as a teacher," Bra said, "But then Tien seems kind of scary too. You wouldn't catch me dead there and no one, not even Pan, can drag me there."

"We'll see about that…" Pan said teasing, though, in reality she had no plans of doing anything on that front. She was not in the habit of dragging friends off to torture sessions.

Bra turned to her brother who had almost finished off his first plate. "And how's CC—have you managed to burn it all to the ground yet?"

"It's in the works," he said casually.

Pan almost choked on the food she was chewing.

"I'm sure after I left, you guys were scrambling to find a decent replacement," Bra said with a grin.

"Replacement?" he said with a good-natured laugh, but he didn't expound on this.

"Is Auden still doing alright?" Pan asked since they were talking about Bra's time at CC.

It took Trunks a moment to register who she was even talking about. "Oh, Bra's boss?" he said after a while. "I haven't heard any bad news. The departments he oversees are probably the most smoothly ran ones in the company—I hardly have to step in for anything, no complaints. I usually just let them run themselves."

"Really, Trunks?" Bulma said speaking up. "No oversight?"

"Of course, not to that extreme," he said back. "But you know what I mean. Past the usual reporting, I'm pretty hands off. Why ruin such a good thing? Whatever he's doing over there—whatever culture they have going seems to create a good working environment. I have so many people wanting to transfer there; there's just no more space for people."

"Even so, it's always good to keep an eye on things."

"Don't worry, I'm not completely out of the loop."

Pan saw Bra looking over at her mother curiously. "Auden's been working there a long time, right Mom?" Bra asked.

Bulma nodded. "He's very loyal and a very good worker. But you have to keep an eye on him. He sees the world a little differently from us."

"What are you going on about?" Trunks said wearily. "I haven't seen any signs to be worried about."

"His worldview, I mean. I've gotten into arguments with him plenty of times about it. He's a socialist. He thinks capitalism as an institution should be completely dismantled and he's always trying to implement those ideals whenever you give him even a little bit of power in the company. I don't have to tell you how that could cut into our bottom line."

Trunks snorted at this. "You even know what socialism means or what version of it he's promoting?"

"I'm being serious. You have to keep an eye on him. We all know that socialism isn't a good thing to identify with," Bulma insisted.

"One man in a huge company who happens to be a socialist should pose no danger to us. I'm sure he knows this. I know it. You don't for some reason. Dismantling an established economic system requires that you convince everyone that they should be on your side, and somehow cut through all the bureaucracy and corruption. He has to operate in a capitalist society just like the rest of us and he definitely doesn't have the power to change that. Unless you think he's planning on starting some sort of uprising—and he definitely doesn't seem like the person to do that."

"You're way too trusting."

Trunks was already partaking in more food and took a moment to respond. "Someone who makes sure those under him are happy and creates a work environment that increases efficiency and builds strong relationships among them and is willing to cut into his own salary to do so, is not someone to worry about. In fact, it might be a good idea to incorporate that model into the rest of the company as much as possible. Bottom line, his ideas are working quite well. I've taken a hands-off approach just to see if that's really the case. He does what he can in the system that's already in place and there's been no evidence of foul play."

"So CC will be some sort of socialist project?" Bulma gawked.

"Let me tell you this—CC was not a pretty place when I first took your position," Trunks began. Pan glanced over at Bulma who looked as if she'd been caught red handed. "There was a culture there that incentivized those who rose above the rest by any means necessary. It was very cutthroat, and it took me years to even begin to change that. It took a lot of meetings, a lot of figuring out how things really ran below the surface, how people really felt about working at the company, and whether any of that was necessary. Amongst all of that was the Research, Development, and Maintenance division that was far less affected by the usual company culture. I figured out why that was the case after speaking with all the managers, supervisors and even the employees who they presided over. Making Auden the director and retiring the old one that used to be there was a no-brainer. I didn't give him a lot of rules to follow, in fact, I cut back on some of them and told him apart from that he can do as he sees fit. I've done that with a few divisions now just to see how that would play out. Trust was in short supply and I decided that that was the best way to demonstrate it. Overall, the work environments have improved, but none more than RD&M division. So, Mom, you can say what you will about the labels that people choose to use—I, on the other hand, will look at the data and use what actually works."

Bulma was looking at him thoughtfully now. "I suppose if it's been working, then it does make sense to promote those sorts of ideas. It just makes me uneasy. I know he means well, but he's incredibly naïve. I also trust that you don't come to these decisions lightly. Dad and I ran the company a certain way and you're deciding that that needs to change. Who am I to stand in the way of progress?"

Trunks wore a frown as she was speaking, and it was very reminiscent of Vegeta. Seems they both could don intimidating masks with ease. Though Pan was almost finished with her first plate, she didn't think it was appropriate to grab for more food as they spoke so intently to one another. Was this how dinners were always like with the Briefs? It wasn't quite the relaxed affair that she'd thought initially.

"You wanted the company to be that way?" Trunks said sharply. "Not only were there illegal activities happening within the company, but outside of it too. In far too many instances, people's lives were in danger. I've had employees come to me begging me not to fire certain people due to death threats and extortions. I've had—" He paused as his mouth became hard. "—certain employees end their own lives due to the stress they couldn't contend with at work. I don't know what kind of 'environment' you like to see in the company, but I can't go along with that."

Bulma looked away when he said this. "I wasn't aware of all that happening, but competition is conducive with innovation. The company didn't get to where it is today by coddling people all the time."

"Competition is conducive to making sure that there will always be losers and therefore those who are punished for not making it despite putting forth their best efforts. Life is too short to be promoting that sort of thing in any way."

"Now you sound like Auden," Bulma said with pursed lips.

"If that's the case, then so be it."

"Children," Bunny spoke up brightly, "Let's not talk about boring business things at the table," she finished in a singsong voice. Something told Pan that this tone was actually more sinister than what she suspected because Bulma and Trunks both looked sheepish.

Finally, Pan felt bold enough to place a few more food items on her plate. Vegeta and Bra had already done so more than twice.

"Now, I heard that you and Pan are seeing each other," Bunny said speaking directly to Bra with her usual cheery tones. "What a beautiful development!"

Pan was immediately red-faced, but Bra seemed unfazed as a warm smile came to her face—it wasn't one that Pan saw very often. "Yeah, actually me and Pan are dating and have been for a while now."

Pan looked over at Bra when she placed a hand in hers and squeezed it. Was it really so official that they were now announcing this to the family? When had things become this serious? "Ah, y-yeah. For a while," Pan said caught off guard and not entirely sure what to say in the situation. She didn't want to just abandon her in front of everyone, but what about Malachi? Was that not a huge elephant in the room?

"Well, I'm glad you weren't in that house all by yourself this whole time," Bulma said to Bra.

Everyone else seemed equally unperturbed. She couldn't quite read Vegeta's expression, but she wasn't sensing any animosity. Terri and the grandparents were all smiles and Trunks was busy filling his plate up again as if nothing of concern had even occurred. Other topics were broached as Bulma asked Pan about how she was doing and how work at the clinic was going. Bunny politely asked Terri about any future projects she had in mind and things went along from there. At the very end of dinner, Machi and Jr. were finally brought up as if they'd been dancing around the topic all day.

They'd both been put to bed already—8pm being the latest Bunny allowed them to be up. She talked gleefully about their personalities and what they generally got up to in a normal day. Bra was all ears peppering her grandmother with a million questions. It was a good sign, and everyone knew it. There was a collective, but subtle sigh of relief from all of them. It was only after this exchange that Vegeta excused himself saying that he was tired. He didn't actually look tired. Pan suspected that he was simply retreating from all the socializing. He'd never seemed like someone who thrived in overly sociable settings. If it was true that he was some sort of prince, she wondered if he would have even fared well in such a highly political role.

"Can I go see them," Bra asked Bunny, drawing Pan out of her musings.

"Of course!" Bunny said happily.

Bra had already finished with her current plate and was eager to go upstairs to see the sleeping one and two-year-old. Bunny climbed out of her seat intending to lead the way though Pan suspected it was also to supervise. When Bra followed in suit, Pan began to do the same.

"No, no, it's alright—you don't have to follow. Finish your food," Bra said placing a hand on Pan's shoulder showing rare concern. Perhaps rare wasn't the right word anymore. Lately, Pan noticed that Bra was more observant and outwardly empathetic. Pan wasn't sure if this would a permanent fixture in her personality, but it was nice to see every now and again.

"Okay, then. I'll be down here," Pan replied not wanting to start a fuss.

Honestly, it wasn't a must that she had to see them that night. Pan knew that she'd be seeing them plenty in due time and it was quite likely that she would become instantly attached.

"Think I'll call it a night today," Bulma said after Bunny and Bra left, "It's been a long one."

"Yeah, I heard you've been working day and night on that radar trying to locate New Namek," Pan commented as she watched her push the chair back.

"Well, I'm actually done with that project. After Auden helped me with the program, there really wasn't much else left to do besides wait for the results. I have a few pet projects I've been working on though and I kind of got carried away. If it weren't for the late dinner today, I probably would have continued subsisting off of coffee," she said with a laugh.

"Wow, I had no idea we were that close to getting to the dragon balls," Pan said surprised.

"I haven't exactly been keeping people up to date," she admitted. "But yeah, I'd say a few more months and I think I'll have the coordinates for New Namek."

"All this trouble just because Dende doesn't want to help," Pan said shaking her head.

"Let's just say I've lost a lot of respect for him. But I suppose he's been different ever since those dragon balls were taken away. He blames us for that, you know."

"Maybe he's right to blame us," Pan said thoughtfully.

"He is. That doesn't mean I have to like it. But it's worse when he doesn't even want to admit it out loud. Anyway…" Bulma said climbing to her feet now.

"Oh wait, I wanted to ask you. Have you decided who's traveling to New Namek?"

"Not yet, but I have a very short list of people," she said with a grin.

"You know I love space travel," Pan said hoping she would get the hint.

"I know," she said with a wider grin. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"Alright, sweetie, good night. You can stay here if you like. My home is always open to the Sons."

Pan gave her thanks again before she made her way out of the dining room. Soon after, Dr. Briefs left as well after giving her another warm welcome to the residence and that he'd likely be in his lab if she had any questions. Now all that remained at the table were Trunks and Terri who sat across from her. Terri had long since finished, but Trunks seemed in the same boat as her and he didn't seem the least perturbed.

"It's a lot more peaceful without all the noisy, opinionated people, isn't it?" Trunks said aloud. He'd been looking at Terri who shook her head in embarrassment, but his eyes were soon on Pan as if trying to watch her reaction, pausing in his eating.

"Not the nicest thing to say about your family," Pan pointed out despite knowing that he was aware of that.

They'd known each other better in the past, but they had long since grown apart as he'd become more and more involved with the family business. In the beginning, she hadn't made it easy for him, forever bugging him about going out on another space traveling adventure and constantly showing up at headquarters just to embarrass him, being the bratty little girl she was. One time, she'd actually made him angry and not in a friendly, forget-about-it-tomorrow sort of way. She'd egged him on until their little argument exploded into a physical altercation in which Pan had been gleeful about after throwing the first few punches. Then, she couldn't remember ever talking to him in any substantive way after that fateful event. She'd been too scared to contact him and he never attempted to do so. It probably hadn't been intentional—he was just busy. He always seemed to be busy and she didn't want to interject herself into his life again, so she simply left it at that. This was probably the most words he'd said to her in quite some time.

"Most people don't think I'm all that nice," he replied casually as if this was obvious.

Pan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't have to pretend anymore—it's just me and your wife here," she said glancing over at Terri who gave her a grateful look.

"After having to get rid of over half the employees at CC including tenured, long-standing ones as well as those in high positions and then having to restructure the entire company because everyone and everything seemed to be several decades behind, people don't like me very much and I'm reminded of that every time I step through the door. There's really no nice way to lay people off in mass or send people into early retirement."

"That sounds really stressful and judging from what your mom said today, she probably wasn't all that happy about that. I remember you differently. As annoying as I could be at times you were probably one of the most patient, nicest people I knew outside of my dad. We used to go on all those fun adventures…"

"It feels like that happened a lifetime ago," Trunks replied. "At the time, it just felt like another day—it's funny how time lapsing can make those things seem rosier than they really were."

"We like to call that nostalgia," Pan said with a chuckle, "I don't know if you've heard of that before."

"Yeah, well, it's not the most accurate way to evaluate a person and it would be equally silly of me to think you're the same person from back then."

"I'm sorry," Pan said, blurting out the phrase. She couldn't stop thinking about the last time they'd spoken at length all those years ago.

He looked at her confused. "About what exactly?"

"About that time we fought."

"We fought a lot of times."

Pan glanced over at Terri who hadn't said much since they started talking, but she was keenly interested in listening and didn't even begin to hide that fact. She had finished eating some time ago and watched curiously. "When you were at work, remember?" she said trying to jog his memory. "I kinda forgot what we were arguing about, but you got really angry—"

"This is perfect. I should really find more convenient excuses to visit," he said cutting across her explanation. He'd already continued partaking in the food on his plate, still taking the time to actually chew rather than just swallowing things down like a vacuum.

"Are you even listening?" Pan said with a frown

"I am. I think I know what you're talking about," he said as if it wasn't a big deal. "I also just want to let everyone here know that I'll be making my way through the rest of the food left on the table—I couldn't possibly let poor Bunny deal with so much leftover."

"Um, who do you think you're talking to? That was my plan from the very beginning," Pan said barely holding back a smile, "So you'll have me to contend with."

"I will not be goaded into some sort of eating competition with you," he said on a more serious note. "I'm not really in the mood for ramming food down my throat—I just want to enjoy everything. There's enough here for both of us."

"Well, to be honest, it's not really all that satisfying cramming things down," she admitted, secretly relieved that she didn't have to do that right now. Her competitive side often said things before her more rational side. "But Grandpa sure loved doing it. And your dad too. It must be a Saiyan thing."

"I wouldn't say it's a 'Saiyan' thing. I've never seen my father actually enjoy eating and it always looked like a very serious affair. Whenever Goku happened to be around, it would turn into a competition, but other than that, it seemed more of a grudging activity he was forced to deal with on a daily basis."

"How can you tell?"

"Oh, subtle and not so subtle tells. He'll skip meals if he's focused on something else and if he doesn't think anyone's watching, he'll take forever trying to clean off one plate. I think it's more that he doesn't like being hungry rather than actually liking to eat."

"So that's why he was able to leave so early after barely finishing a few plates. I thought that was strange."

"He was really trying to be on his best behavior today," Trunks said with a snort, "And I was testing to see how thin I could stretch his patience before it broke."

"I knew it," Terri said interjecting with a frown. "What was even the point?"

Trunks shrugged. "I was just curious. He really hasn't changed all that much, but he surprised me. As you can see, we all managed to get through a pleasant family dinner without any explosions going off."

"This was all supposed to be about Bra's homecoming, you know," Pan reminded Trunks. "That's why we were all on our best behavior today."

Trunks finished chewing what was in his mouth before he responded. He already looked annoyed. "We're always rolling out the red carpet for that girl. The only reason she's even in this situation is because she's been spoiled and coddled to death and she's used to the world revolving around her. And here we are continuing to indulge that. If she wants to take responsibility for her actions, it shouldn't involve some sort of celebration or reward. I was just here for the food."

"Really, Trunks? I didn't think you thought so lowly of your own sister."

"Pointing out her flaws doesn't mean I think 'lowly' of her. No one wants to say it out loud. I've told her that plenty of times before. She knows that she'll always get her way. She knows that she has everyone especially Dad wrapped around her finger, so it really doesn't matter what I say or think."

"I think she's changed," Pan said back.

Trunks didn't even dignify this with a response as he continued on the food clearly enjoying that more than the topic at hand. Pan supposed that there was also the added layer of nostalgia that was probably making everything taste even better. She got the impression that Trunks rarely bothered with visiting. She wondered just how much he disliked his own family and if somewhere along the way it had turned into hate.

"I hadn't been angry at you," Trunks said after a while. Pan looked at him confused. "That fight you were talking about—I wasn't angry at you. I just used that moment as an outlet. I'd been shadowing Mom for some time, learning the intricate details of her position. Even though she tried to paint a rosy picture of the job and everyone wore their forced smiles while she showed me around every square inch of the business, it was so transparent that even someone as inexperienced as me could see that all was not right. I'd studied a wide range of topics in school, one, because business was the driest and most narrowminded subject I'd ever taken, two, because I thought I needed to learn more than just business to actually make a difference, and three because I liked meeting all these interesting people from other majors. I learned about politics, philosophy, mathematics and innumerable sociology topics. Those things brought the world and the society that we lived in into focus. I'd been so sheltered living within the comfortable confines of Mom's wealth, that it was quite a bit to take in all at once. I knew Mom had been serious about me inheriting her prestigious position at CC and by the time it actually came time for me to begin learning her position, I wasn't even sure that I deserved her title over all the other people who had already worked at the company for decades. I saw a side to Mom that I hadn't known was there. The way she saw the world and consequentially, how she ran her company was insane. She had all this power, all this economic power, could set the tone for the world market, had reaches to almost every other city in the world, and pretty much controls policymakers worldwide. Yet she chose to wield that power like a sledgehammer rather than with careful consideration of all the people who would be affected.

"Disgust doesn't even begin to describe how I felt about that even in myself for thinking I could swoop in and save the day and being complicit in the nepotism that allowed me to step over people that may have been far more worthy. And I took all that on you that day. I was hoping you'd just see it as another playful spar but seeing as you're bringing it up again after all these years—I suppose you saw it differently. You never needed to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. We were just at different points in our lives. I thought it was a good thing that you decided to keep your distance. It was probably better that way. I'm sorry for making you feel like you had anything to do with how I reacted."

Pan took a moment to digest everything. "I had no idea all that was happening at the time. And here I was thinking it was because of me being bratty. Never once did I even begin to think it was anything else."

"It's only natural. I wasn't exactly forthcoming."

"Sure, but I guess it was something I needed to work on."

There was another pause in dialogue as Pan and Trunks further indulged their seemingly insatiable appetites. Terri could only look on in silent astonishment. Though Pan was sure Terri must have been used to this sort of thing, she supposed for humans it would always be jarring. Then again, Pan wouldn't be surprised if Trunks would dial down his habits around other humans in order to fit in a little better. She did it herself at her own job. With such a prestigious position and having so many eyes on him, perhaps it was better not to rock the boat.

"For the record so there's no misunderstanding," Trunks began after clearing off another plate. "I only want the best for my sister. Thinking outside of yourself is incredibly difficult to do, but it becomes impossible if you're surrounded by people that enable your worst habits."

"Are you critiquing me?" Pan asked with food on her fork.

"Depends. Are you enabling her?"

It was such a straightforward question that Pan was caught off guard. "I don't…think so."

Trunks looked at her with a grin—the first one she'd seen in a long time. "Then I'm not talking about you," he said in teasing tones.

Pan shook her head at this with a snort. It was likely the most tacit approval she was going to get from Trunks about her and Bra. "It's surprising how well everyone took the fact that me and Bra were seeing each other."

"Yeah, well, I lost a bet because of you."

"What was that?" Pan said in faux offensive tones.

Trunks could barely keep a straight face. "No, it's just more surprising that you think a family comprised of actual aliens and half aliens would be at all thrown off by a relationship between two close friends."

"You have a point," Pan said thoughtfully. "I just…imagine my family would not have been so nonchalant."

"I suppose it's not about who you are, but about how you were raised. I imagine your family must have so much more structure than ours—at least, that's how Goten described it. He always said he hated it, but it would be nice to at least pretend that there's order in this chaotic world."

"Goten definitely hated it. I remember he couldn't wait to leave the house when he was old enough."

"Yeah, I know. We both couldn't wait to leave the house when we were old enough. We lived together for a while until he got into a very serious relationship with Valese and things got a little weird."

She waited for him to expound on the "weird" part, but he left it at that. They were making good work of the remaining food on the table and there were now plenty of emptied serving dishes. Pan wondered if she should be joining Bra instead of conversing with Trunks, but she felt it would be rude just to leave and, to be honest, she was also gleefully enjoying the feast that she was eating at a relaxed pace.

"Your grandmother is so cute—it's like she's stopped aging altogether! I can't imagine ever having the energy to make all of this," Terri said interrupting the light clinking of utensils on plates. She'd also taken a little more into her plate likely out of boredom.

"That's one way to describe her," Trunks said with a sigh.

"Ugh, don't tell me you have a problem with her too?" Terri asked distressed.

He gave her a look that caused another reaction from her.

"Really?"

He took a long swig from the glass of water nearby. "I don't think you two want to sit around and listen to me bitch about my family all night."

Pan successfully stopped herself before expressing her curiosity though she had to comment. "I didn't realize there was so much tea to spill."

"No, I want to know what you don't like about that sweet lady," Terri said in argumentative tones, "She's been nothing but nice and courteous to me. There's not a mean bone in her body!"

"It's not that serious," Trunks said dismissively. "Hardly worth discussing."

Terri looked at him with perched lips. "So she's perfectly fine, right?"

"For someone who's married to the man who started the world conglomerate known as CC, she certainly doesn't have a lot of opinions about it. She seems forever trapped in her own little world, completely uninterested in anything without. Sometimes it's unbearable to observe. If you talk politics with her or business, she shuts down. In fact, she thinks it's 'boring' and she seemed more interested in bringing up the more mundane topic of Bra and Pan dating."

"That did come out of the clear blue," Pan said. "I wonder who she 'heard' it from that we were dating."

"She probably had no idea and decided to test the water and you two just fell right for it."

"Not everyone has to enjoy talking business," Terri said back. "It can get pretty boring."

"Sure. Everyone's entitled to their likes and dislikes. It still bothers me."

"Maybe she does have an opinion," Pan began, "And she just doesn't want to reveal them."

"We're all just speculating," Trunks pointed out. "All I can comment on is what I've experienced."

"That wasn't so bad," Terri said after a moment. "I thought you were going to tell me some deep dark secret about her."

"Oh, I'm sure there are some, but I'm not privy to them," Trunks said ominously with a grin.

She smacked his shoulder playfully. "Stop."

Pan suspected that there were definitely deep, dark secrets about his father that he knew about, but she didn't feel comfortable asking. Besides, he was getting weary talking about other family members. There was one question she'd been meaning to ask him…

"I'm a little miffed you didn't invite me to your wedding," Pan said, trying to get them to indulge her with the details.

"It wasn't a big deal," Terri admitted upfront. "We just decided on a small, private ceremony just to get it over with. It was way less hassle. Coordinating with my family who likes traveling all the time would have been a nightmare."

"But it's your wedding! A once in a lifetime experience—well, at least for the first time with the same person."

"Please, ceremony for the sake of ceremony is nothing more than fanfare. I was never keen on it, but if Terri wanted it, I would have went through with it," he said glancing over at Terri with a knowing look.

"Ugh! You two are impossible! Not a celebratory bone in your bodies."

"It wasn't a good time either," Terri said further.

Trunks expounded. "Let me just be blunt. No one was in the mood to celebrate anything after Malachi's passing. It's all been extremely dreary pretty much everywhere. His music gets played all the time and no one can stop bringing it up. I've only just visited here today, but no one's actually in a good mood. I can sense that. Back then, I didn't see the point of dragging people out to some strange human ritual that neither of us were excited about in the first place especially in that sort of environment."

Pan was saddened by the news. She felt the need to apologize, but what would she be apologizing for and who would she be helping in the process? "Well, we should be wishing him back soon so…"

"That won't fix very much," Trunks said. "I'm sure you already knew that though."

"It would fix some things though, right?"

Trunks shook his head. "I don't know, honestly. All this mourning has already taken its toll on everyone here. The idea that they can bounce back from that so easily is difficult to believe. I've never seen my father invest in someone's wellbeing as quickly as Malachi's—his sudden loss would have been more painful than he's letting on. Seeing my father work with Tien like he is now; I never thought I'd see the day. I wonder if my family can make it another few months like this."

"I didn't realize it was getting so bad."

"His death wasn't at the hands of the latest threat to Earth—it was a culmination of circumstances that can't be so easily swept under the rug. I can't imagine Malachi would be unchanged by all that. No one really knows if his death was accidental or intentional. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't just leave things as they are now instead of manipulating events in our own favor like we always do. Wasn't that the lesson we were supposed to learn from Omega Shenron? Isn't that what Dende is trying to teach us in his own way? We used the dragon balls frivolously, unable to accept the consequences of our actions. Earth and its people have been destroyed. We've failed many times. Why do we deserve do-overs and not all the other civilizations lost to time? Are we not all just delaying the inevitable?"

His words were beginning to open a deep, dark pit in the back of her mind. Would she even be alive now to discuss these matters were it not for the dragon balls? Why did she and everyone else deserve to live when so many others didn't? Were Earthlings so much better than Saiyans? Earthlings were capable of destruction just as much as Saiyans, but they simply lacked the means to do it at a much larger scale individually. Peaceful, wasn't quite the word she'd use to describe Earth. Why in the world had Earth received all these chances when, by and large, none of them had even asked for it or even had known that their planet was in danger in the first place? Ignorance was usually rewarded with dire consequences, but they'd saved their planet because this was their home. This was what they were used to, and they didn't want that to change. Maybe that was one of the reasons Vegeta was communicating with more humans despite his generally selfish tendencies—he wanted to spread more awareness to the populace.

"Sorry," Trunks said after a moment when she didn't respond immediately. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, no, I was just thinking. It puts things into perspective. All this time, I've been just waiting for us to get on with making the wish, but for some reason, the waiting has been difficult, and I didn't understand why. I think it's, like you said, because it was different. It's not like it happened in the midst of battle. It was far more mundane. I don't know if any of us was prepared for that."

"Well, let's hope things will work out anyway," Trunks said on a lighter note, "That's what we like do around here anyway."

After all that, just hoping seemed like a stale solution to a very multi-faceted issue. Was there even a solution in the first place? When would things get back to normal? When would they all be happy again? Maybe that goal was unattainable. Maybe she'd have to change what she meant by being "happy" again. Perhaps satisfied would be something more practical. For now, there was food that still needed her attention. She filled her plate once again just like Trunks did a few moments before and dug in. They were almost finished, and it was getting late. Though their pace had been leisurely so far, they both seemed to notice the lateness of the hour and subtly increased their speed. It didn't take them too much longer to clear off the table. By then, even Pan had had her fill as she sat back in her chair.

"Well," Trunks said standing up, "It's been an interesting evening. By the way, Pan, if you ever need someone to talk to, you have my number."

"Um, y-yeah," Pan said realizing he must not have changed his number since she first added it to her phone years ago. "I'll do that."

"I'm being serious," Trunks said looking at her without a hint of teasing. "I know things haven't been easy for you and I'm not the best with keeping up with people. So, please don't hesitate. I was never upset with you."

"Alright," Pan said in the face of such earnestness. "Don't be a stranger yourself."

"I'll try," he said with a chuckle.

With this, they parted ways with Terri waving and giving the last goodbye before Pan was in the dining room by herself. Using her senses, she figured out that Bra and Bunny were still near each other possibly conversing. Dr. Brief was much further possibly in his lab and Bulma's energy was so relaxed that Pan assumed she was likely asleep. Vegeta was elsewhere in the main house. That piqued her interest a little, but it was probably better to make her way to Bra. The idea of randomly striking up a conversation with Bra's still intimidating father was enough to make her abort the entire notion. What would she say to him? What sort of awkward conversation would ensue? Maybe later. Maybe much, much later. Maybe never. It didn't really matter that much anyway.

By the time Pan climbed the steps, she could feel both Bra and Bunny moving away from each other. She hoped she hadn't missed anything important. Walking down the wide main hall, Pan ran into Bra. Immediately upon seeing her, Bra ran over and hugged her as if they'd been apart for ages.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked concerned while returning the embrace with similar fervor.

"I've missed you is all. And I was a little scared."

"Scared?"

"She was telling me all about them—what they liked to eat, what they like to do, their likes and dislikes, when they started walking—well, it's only Jr. even though he's younger. How playful and courteous Machi is. How quiet and observant Jr. is. It was so much to take in. I was quietly freaking out, but they were so cute to look at!"

"It's alright," Pan said in calming tones. "Just take one step at a time. No one's telling you to be perfect on your first try and we're all going to be here to help. I have no idea how to take care of children, but I'm willing to help in any way I can."

Bra continued to hold her quietly. "Thank you," she said barely above a whisper. "Please tell me you're staying the night with me."

"Oh—I—y-yes, I am."

"You better not leave me," Bra said releasing her and standing up straight.

"I'm not leaving you," Pan said definitively, "But I do still need to go to work."

Bra sighed exasperatedly. "It's always work with you. You must really love it."

"It's something that adults do," Pan said sardonically, "Can't help it."

Bra shrugged and then took up her hand. "C'mon, better make the best of the time I have with you."

Bra was already dragging her away and Pan didn't have the will to resist her. Truthfully, she really didn't want to. The idea of snuggling up with someone who cared about her and who she cared about didn't seem like a terrible way to spend the night.

They went into Bra's old room and for a time, they splayed out comfortably on top of her gargantuan bed. It certainly brought back memories of childhood. They'd spent long weekends here together along with Marron painting nails, playing video games, talking boys, and getting into trouble on the internet. Nostalgia truly was a strange, comforting feeling—bittersweet in many ways knowing that those times were gone and would never return. Now, was their reality.

"I didn't bring any change of clothes," Pan said.

"Just grab something out of the drawer over there," Bra said with a yawn.

With a grumble, Pan climbed out of the sinfully comfortable bed and pulled herself over to the drawers that seemed miles away. Not caring if present company saw her naked, she nonchalantly stripped off her clothes and grabbed the first things she placed her hands on. Pan ended up in mix-matched pajamas, but it didn't bother her in the least. Bra might have a heart attack though. It was probably too dark to see…

"Really, Pan?" Bra said immediately from across the room. Seems she still had sharp eyesight even in the dead of night.

"Oh, give me a break," Pan said wearily. She defiantly left her clothes exactly as they were and eventually jumped atop the bed again.

Pan crawled over to Bra with a mischievous look on her face. She looked so cute gazing up at her curiously. Generally, she was not one to start anything, but she missed her lips for some reason, and she could always count on Bra to be in the mood for that sort of thing. Once Pan started engaging her, Bra caught on quick enough.

"Just kissing," Pan said after a mouthful.

"That's fine," she said quickly as she pulled her back.

They began once again and Pan lost track of the time.

"You know you can always count on me, right?" Bra said when they parted again.

Pan nodded.

"Say it."

"Yes."

"You can trust me," Bra said softly.

Pan kissed her gently this time. "I know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force you to commit in front of everyone like that. I know you don't like rushing things. I can always—"

"No, it's alright," Pan said brushing away her worry. "It surprised me a little, yeah, but I think I do feel that way. It's just…"

"What is it?"

"What about Malachi?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I have you."

Bra's voice sounded so reassuring that Pan was lulled into a more relaxed mood. How could she be so unconcerned about that? What exactly would Malachi think about this? Then again, did it really matter at this point?

Soon, they were climbing under the covers, exhaustion getting the better of them both. They easily moved into their more favored position with Pan lying on her back and Bra placing her head on her stomach and curling against her. Bra's arm came across her protectively and Pan placed one of her arms over her shoulder and back. Pan could feel the tickle of Bra's exhales through the thin material of the pajamas and as it slowly deepened. Absently, she ran a gentle hand down her blue hair with closed eyes. She listened a while to Bra's unhurried breaths. Whatever worries Bra claimed to have, they seemed to be long gone for now. It took only a few more moments for Pan to drop off as well.

* * *

Pan woke up to Bra scrambling off of her and a few moments later, she realized that one of the toddlers were crying. The screeching noises was enough to give her a full-on headache and it was still the early morning. All she was thinking was that it was now cold where Bra used to be. They'd gotten further entangled, obviously, by the morning and the covers were almost completely off of her. With a groan, she pulled the rest off and followed Pan into the toddlers' room. Though both Jr. and Machi had their own rooms, it seemed they were placed in a different one that Pan supposed was the nursery out of convenience. It would likely be pretty trying walking back and forth between two different rooms. Bra was already holding Machi up with a disgusted face and Pan couldn't blame her as the sharp smell of excrement came to her nose. Unruly auburn hair framed the toddler's teary face.

"Machi soils herself a lot," Bra said, "That's what Bunny told me. So I'll see about changing her." She was already taking her over to what Pan decided was the changing station that seemed equipped with everything one would need to change diapers.

While Bra dealt with that, Pan's curiosity led her over to Jr. who was just waking up with a very cute, little yawn, stretching about in his well-furnished crib. When she peered down to look at him clearly, she was immediately in love.

"Oh my god, Bra, it's tiny Vegeta!"

"Yeah, I know, he's really cute and worrisome," Bra said loudly over Machi's squeals.

"Can I pick him up?" Pan wondered if that was a dumb question, but it was too late to take it back.

"You can try!"

Jr. seemed not to even notice her yet, but she got his attention quickly when she lifted him into her arms. Then he was just looking up at her curiously and eventually grabbing whatever convenient nearby fabric he could.

"Could you go brush his teeth and stuff?" Bra asked.

"Sure, okay."

Pan wasn't sure what "and stuff" meant, but she was sure she'd figure out. Maybe she had to change his clothes? Really, she just wanted to because at this point Jr. was akin to a life-sized doll. She walked over to the closet and opened it with her free arm. Of course, the closet was full of cute baby clothes of almost every imaginable color.

"What do you think about pink?" Pan said barely able to contain a giggle.

Jr. only made a few tiny baby noises towards her as if they were actually communicating—he didn't seem upset about it.

"Pink?"

More baby noises.

"Shirt?"

"Shirt," Jr. repeated, recognizing that word and startling her with his clarity.

Pan pulled the little pink shirt from the closet. "Pink shirt."

"Shirt!" Jr. repeated, now reaching his arms out to the new and interesting garment.

"Well, it's decided then. Pink shirt."

Pan also pulled out some jean bottoms hoping these would fit—she had no idea—and quickly vacated the nursery before Bra made some objection. She was supposed to be "brushing his teeth and stuff" anyway. In the nearest bathroom, she set him on the toilet with it's top closed and hung the clothes on the rack holding wash cloths. Then she set about looking for a brush and toothpaste. Conveniently, she found one with the words "Vegeta Jr." written on it in gold, incursive print—a small, blue toothbrush. "Geez, they really bought custom made toothbrushes? Of course." She glanced over at Jr. who already seemed bored as he'd sat down on the stool and watched his dangling feet kicking back and forth. He was humming some tune she couldn't quite place.

"Okay, Vegeta Jr., are you ready for me to brush your teeth."

Jr. looked up at her with a frown. "No."

"No?" Pan repeated unperturbed, "Don't you want to have clean teeth?"

"No."

"Hm, we'll see if you'll keep saying that once your teeth is rotting out of your skull."

"No."

"Open your mouth."

Jr. simply kept looking at her defiantly and she stepped closer with toothbrush in hand now holding a tiny bit of toothpaste—there was no way he had very many teeth to brush at this age.

"Open your mouth," she said more sternly.

This time, he grudgingly did so. She was surprised that worked. At least she didn't have to wrestle with him the whole time.

"Good," Pan said in relieved tones. "Just keep your mouth open, okay?"

She quickly went to work brushing the few front teeth that he had. Actually, there was more there than she'd been anticipating, but she was no expert as far as that went.

"Oh, wait…" she said to herself looking around for small cups. She found an unused stack of them near clean white washcloths and used to fill up with water. Pan had no idea if she was doing this right when she told him to gargle it—it became clear that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"See? Like this." She took a sip of the water and swished it dramatically with her mouth so that it was obvious and then spit it into the sink. She did it again two more times with Jr. watching intently. "Now, your turn." Pan grabbed him and placed him on top of the counter near the sink. When she looked around, she found a convenient stool for him to use with tiger patterns on it and finally placed him there. She filled the cup again and gave it back to him. "Gargle."

He attempted at the very least, but he took too much of the water and it ended up getting everywhere much to Pan's amusement—on the mirror, on his pajamas, and on the sink and counter. When he turned to look at her with a smile that suggested he thought he'd accomplished something, it almost melted her heart.

"That was perfect, but let's aim for just the sink next time," Pan said grabbing a washcloth to clean his face off.

He smelled like toothpaste now along with the scent of bubble bath she'd smelled on him this morning. Someone must have given him a bath last night. She supposed washing his face would suffice for now.

"Okay," Pan said after she was done fussing over his face with soap and water. His pajamas were still a bit wet, but they were going to be changed shortly. "It's time to change clothes," she announced. He seemed to understand what that meant as he instinctively looked over at the clothes she set aside. "Yes, those clothes."

She unzipped his onesie which he stepped out of expertly without being told. Then she placed him on the floor so that it wouldn't be so hard to balance. With the pants, she took them off the rack and held them down to his level so that he could step into them.

"No—me change clothes," Jr. said stubbornly as he tried to grab them from her grasp.

"Oh, alright, big boy. Let's see if you can manage to put them on yourself."

Actually, it seemed like he had the task down pat as he held the pants like she was holding it and then stepped into them—he seemed to have good balance. Then she gave him the cute pink shirt that she now noticed had a tiger face on the back. Clearly, the perfect shirt for Jr. It was a bit more of a difficult task as he found the proper placement of his hands but struggled trying to get it over his head. Pan resisted the urge to assist as it seemed like he was really determined to do it himself. She remembered always hating when her own mom kept helping her despite her protests. By the time he got it on, his hair was a little unkempt on the side which she fixed up easily.

"Oh—wow, your hair is really soft!" she said running her hand through his hair now just to feel the texture. "I thought it'd be tougher. I wonder why it sticks up like this then…" She played with it a little, pressing it down only for it to pop back up again—it was far too cute not to try it again a few more times. But then he was batting her hands away in irritation. "Alright, okay, sorry," Pan said sheepishly.

"Look at you all dressed up," Pan said straightening his shirt out a bit. "Are you hungry now? I bet you're hungry."

"Hungry," he agreed excitedly. It was probably the most excited she'd seen him.

"Okay, follow me then."

Pan remembered Bra had mentioned how Jr. could walk and described him as "quiet and observant". She supposed that description was apt considering she'd managed not to end up with a bawling toddler on her hands and the attempt to gargle water could have gone worse. She couldn't help but think that she'd gotten it a little easier with Jr. rather than having to deal with Machi. Pan didn't walk too fast as she knew someone with such short legs would find it hard to keep up. She couldn't stop herself from grinning as he waddled determinedly behind her. Once they got to the stairs though, she wasn't too keen on letting him go down quite so many at one time. They were much too steep for him. Pan took him into her arms without a second thought. She expected him to make a fuss, but he settled comfortably into her shoulder. After making it down the stairs though, he was already trying to wiggle out of her grasp.

"Okay, okay, big boy," she said setting him down.

He was back to waddling again much to her continued entertainment as she led the way. By the time Pan made it to the dining room, Bra and Machi were already there. Machi was already in her booster seat with her little apron on with a bright smile on her face. When she wasn't crying, Machi seemed like the happiest toddler in the world and she was giggling at Bra's antics as she made silly faces at her.

"Finally, Pan," Bra said upon seeing her. "Took you long enough! I thought you got lost or something."

"Well, Jr. insisted on walking here himself."

"After I got Machi changed, it was smooth sailing from there." She paused when she saw the shirt Jr. wore as he emerged from the hall. Then she laughed. "Really? A pink shirt? I think that was Machi's."

"Please, like girl clothes are different from boy clothes at this age," Pan said, "Besides, Jr. likes his pink shirt. Isn't that right, Jr.?" She scooped him into her arms now that he'd made it in the room. There was a booster seat already set out for Jr. which was right across from Machi. "You like your pink shirt, Jr." she cooed pointing at his shirt. "Don't you?"

He pointed at his shirt and then proclaimed, "Pink shirt mine!"

Bra was already rolling her eyes at this. "Well, he already has more fashion sense than Machi—she could care less what shirt she has on."

Pan set him easily in the booster seat and they were soon ready for breakfast to begin. She'd already lost track of time. When she looked on her phone, she let out a sigh or relief. It was still early, but she had an hour left before she needed to be at work. It was one of the few times she wasn't really looking forward to it. She just wanted to hang out with Machi and Jr. for the day or maybe a few days. Maybe a lifetime. She wanted to learn more about Jr. and be surrounded by Machi's apparent good mood. It did wonders for the general despondency she'd been in for a long time now.

"Alright, well, Bunny says to let them drink first and then feed them."

"Sounds backwards, but okay."

Bra shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me, but I guess she already started them on a routine. We have some special cereal that Bunny prepared for them—just add milk. They, apparently, both really like it. I'll get that and you can get the formula. Jr. can drink from a cup, but Machi is still a little messy with that so use the sippy cup for now."

With game plan in mind, the two of them went to work. Pan didn't have too much work to do for the formula since Bunny had already made it last night and stored it in a small refrigerator set at the proper temperature. Something told her that part Saiyan babies were less finnicky about their formula than purely human ones. And looking at Jensen, who knew what sort of needs Jr. actually had. Would he grow up quickly like Jensen? He was already showing signs, but Machi still appeared a little older or at the very least, a little taller. Jensen had already been able to walk and talk within days of his conception according to Malachi. Perhaps this was something to ponder on later. For now, the two of them seemed normal enough.

Pan brought the drinks out to the two wiggling toddlers who'd been having some sort of conversation with each other, but it seemed to be in a baby language she couldn't quite understand. No one was crying at the very least. They quickly perked up with the new addition of food. She placed the short cup on Jr.'s table and the sippy cup on Machi's. Machi knew exactly what to do grabbing it easily with her hands—perhaps she wasn't too far away from using a regular cup after all. Jr. seemed a bit more careful, balancing the cup in his hands and tilting it slowly to his mouth—he was full concentration which looked adorable on one so young. Machi finished hers in the next minute now thumping the cup around on the table—it wasn't quite annoying enough for Pan to try and take it away especially since she seemed to be having such a great time doing that simple activity—as well as making baby noises along with it in tune.

Jr. finally got a mouthful and then he gleefully spit it out much to Machi's delight who was already giggling and clapping.

"Again, again!" Machi yelled excitedly.

"No—don't you dare," Pan said rushing over to the child.

He'd already gotten another mouthful drinking a lot quicker now as if reacting to her fast approach. At the same time she grabbed the cup away—which took a bit more force than she was anticipating—he spit the formula directly into her face with the same triumphant smile she'd seen in the bathroom earlier. It was still quite cute, but she was now soaking in baby spit and formula. Luckily, she hadn't changed clothes yet.

"Really, Jr.? Drink, don't spit!"

"Oh my god, what's happening?" Bra said in disbelief with cereal in hand. "Oh, no, he's all messy now!"

"It's okay, I'll change him later. Jr. just thought he was being clever," Pan said standing up straight now. She looked for a paper towel amidst all the laughter. Somehow being laughed at with cute little baby laughter wasn't all that stinging and were she not so upset, she might have joined in.

Bra already looked like she was stressing out and Machi was still proclaiming "Again! Again!" It was starting to turn into a dumpster fire. The cup was snatched out of her hand by an invisible force. Pan looked around and saw that no one was close enough to have done that. It took her a moment to realize that the cup was levitating in midair. Both Pan and Bra looked on stupefied by the display.

"Fire!" Jr. cried out and just like that the cup exploded sending flaming bits everywhere.

"Again, again!" Machi continued to exclaim clearly unfazed by it all and enjoying every bit of it.

"Oh, no you don't!" Pan yelled running over and yanking Jr. out of the seat and holding him like a football as she sprinted out of the dining room before things really started deteriorating. "I got him, just take care of Machi!" Pan called into the dining room.

"Okay," Bra called back in a trembling voice. She seemed on the verge of tears now. It couldn't be helped at the moment.

Pan was sure Machi would be much easier to manage since she seemed so agreeable. Hopefully, that might calm Bra down a little. She held up Jr. who was clearly still in good mood, kicking about happily. "Bad baby," Pan admonished.

"Bad baby?" he repeated as if it was foreign.

"Yes! Bad baby. You only spit in sink. You drink at table."

"Fire baby!" he said loudly.

"No—bad baby!" Pan argued back, but he didn't seem to be understanding completely.

"Ugh, all this racket in the morning," came a rough, annoyed voice from the direction of the stairs.

Pan was a little startled by Vegeta's presence. Not only had she not sensed him coming, but she hadn't heard him as well. "Oh, sorry," she said quickly.

Time was running short for her. She still had to get ready too and now she had to clean Jr. up again. Her work clothes were at Malachi's place, she didn't really have time for breakfast herself which would mean she'd be miserable until lunch, and she still needed to speed off to her jobsite and try not to mess up her hair and clothes in the process. Vegeta was looking at her now with a raised eyebrow likely noticing the mess covering her and Jr. If she wasn't mistaken, she could also see the beginnings of a smirk. Then a thought came to her mind born out of desperation.

"Here, could you take him?—I need to get to work."

To her surprise, he held his arms out without further ado. "Fine. Give him here."

Not wanting to spoil her good fortune, she handed the little troublemaker over to Vegeta and jetted up the stairs. Halfway up, she wished she'd paused a moment to fully appreciate the image of Vegeta holding a tinier, cuter version of himself—someone needed to take a picture of that to further immortalize that very precious moment. She'd have other chances, she supposed.

Everything else blurred by quickly. She took a quick shower changed into another one of Bra's outfits and flew off from the balcony in Bra's room into the skies. Today was going to be a hectic one. She had a few surgeries scheduled today and who knew how the other patients were recovering. Then she'd inevitably have to return to the Briefs residence. Secretly, she was looking forward to that, but for now, she didn't want to be late.


	10. A Strange, Little Episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auden and Chi-Chi fluff, Jensen appeasing Aster and a swift resolution to the ensuing consequences; and a confession of the heart.

Bra was back. Jensen had strolled onto the Briefs residence and sensed her immediately. Even with time, his hate for her had not cooled. Bulma had texted him earlier that Bra would be coming back, but Jensen wasn't sure if that was really happening. Bra was allergic to responsibility. Why would she care about her own children? She certainly didn't care much about him. He didn't want her to in the first place.

Jensen was nowhere near the main house and he didn't feel like approaching it any further. He knew that if he was in the same room with her, he wouldn't be able to maintain his composure. He closed his eyes trying to calm his racing heart. His room was in the main house, but he decided then that it would probably be better to occupy one of the many unused living quarters strewn throughout the property. He also still had a capsule house he'd taken from one of the million caches Bulma had in almost every location on the property. There were several lines of capsule houses that Bulma was always updating. One could scarcely walk a few steps before stumbling over yet another capsule. That he had one on hand wasn't exactly a surprising development.

When his phone started vibrating all of sudden, he answered without even bothering to look at the caller ID. Only one person would be calling him at this hour. Him and Aster had decided it was best that they parted ways for a little while so that they weren't so absent from their families. Already, she was calling him.

"That bitch is actually living here!" Aster said in a quiet but angered voice.

"Who?" Jensen asked confused, looking off into the horizon—the stars were just starting to peek out for the night.

"That woman from before you saw when you visited. Just get over here! I need to show you something."

"Fine, I'll be there in a few minutes."

It was better than futilely trying to regain his composure all night and trying to convince himself that it would be unseemly to pick a fight with someone who couldn't really defend themselves. The only thing that stayed his hand was the thought that his father would be deeply disappointed. He'd desperately wanted him to give Bra another chance. Jensen so far couldn't think of a reason to do so.

Without a second thought, he took off into the air and sped off to Aster's place—a nice apartment complex near the suburbs. It didn't take him long to arrive and the door was open when he tried turning the knob.

"Come look at this," Aster insisted upon him arriving, grabbing his hand, and dragging him past the living room, down the short hallway to the room at the end.

The door was cracked a bit, but now Aster carefully pushed the door open a little further so that he could peer inside. Jensen had to wait for his eyes to readjust in the pitch blackness. Eventually, he could see two sleeping forms under the comforter, both quietly snoring, one turned away and the other on their back. It took him another moment to realize who was who. They seemed quite peaceful, so much so that it felt a little intrusive watching them mundanely sharing a bed as adults tended to do at night. It was making him tired as well seeing as he'd not had a proper rest in some time—Aster kept him up all hours of the night deep in some conversation that neither would feel like ending in a timely manner.

Jensen stepped back, closing the door the way he'd seen it, forcing Aster to move back as well. He looked at her questioningly. "So what?"

Aster frowned at him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the bathroom now, switching the light on. He hissed at the sudden introduction of light, but Aster was already pointing at some skin care products on the sink counter.

"See, look!" she said angrily, but still in her quiet voice. "That gold digger must have had him buy that—I don't believe for a second that she could even afford it. That's like a thousand dollars' worth of product right there."

"A thousand dollars?" Jensen asked more surprised about the price tag than anything else.

"C'mon, I found something else too," Aster said, already dragging him along. Hopefully, this was the last thing she wanted him to see.

Aster took him to the kitchen and switched the light on there. Her voice was still quiet as she pointed out how full the refrigerator was with leftovers. "It's never been this full before. Dad doesn't cook this much and definitely not enough for leftovers."

Jensen remembered that he hadn't eaten anything that day as he gazed at all the readily available food, wondering how Aster could somehow spin food in a fridge as being the worst thing ever in the world. "Let me just…help them out with that—I doubt they'll be able to eat all of this…" Jensen said eyeing something that looked like stew and another that was full of rice.

"Jensen," Aster said with a frown, "You're actually gonna' eat that woman's food?"

"Why not? Didn't we do that last time?"

"Well—that was different," Aster said haughtily. "We were tricked because Dad said he was cooking, then that bitch decided to get in the way."

"I'm hungry," he said simply, tossing said containers into the nearby microwave and putting it on for a few minutes.

Speaking of that time, Chi-Chi's cooking was obviously top-notch. Better than Bunny's in his opinion, but then he preferred more rustic tasting food over "perfection". He leaned on the counter watching the containers spin slowly inside.

"This is bad," Aster continued standing just out of his view. "First it's Pan, now it's Chi-Chi, but now it's much worse. I don't even know how long she's been here cozying up to him. You have to help me stop them! Maybe you can do one of your mind tricks."

Jensen glanced over at her. "You know I don't like to resort to that kind of thing unless I have to. You were so worried about Pan, but then nothing happened," he reminded her. "Maybe the same thing will happen here."

"No, this is different. Pan was never staying here. You don't understand. Dad sleeping in the same bed with someone?—that's taboo! I can barely even believe what I'm seeing. Please, Jensen, you have to do something. I don't want to see him get hurt."

Jensen flicked his dark hair back from his eyes with an index finger as he stood up straighter to look at her better. "I really don't feel comfortable manipulating people like that. You have to give me some real evidence that someone's really getting hurt or that it'd even be fun to do."

"I told you about my dad. He's so naïve and vulnerable. I'm always having to step in and save him from his mistakes."

"Yeah, you told me about that and then I met him the other day. He was pretty intimidating. When he looked at me, I felt like a small, annoying child and I didn't want to give him a reason to think I was hurting you in anyway—I would hate to have him as an enemy. And I couldn't read his mind. That usually happens when someone is so powerful that it creates a natural barrier to my probing. Like Vegeta or Pan. So I can't manipulate him to do anything anyway."

"Intimidating?" Aster asked flabbergasted, "Are we even talking about the same guy? Dad wouldn't hurt a fly. You were just being all self-conscious 'cus he's my dad and you wanted to leave a good impression."

"Well, there's that, but…" Jensen turned back to the microwave, "The way he got pissed off the more you kept pushing him about those pills—if looks could kill…"

"It's cause of that woman—I've never seen him get mad at me before."

"I saved you that day. I may not be able to read his mind, but anyone could tell he was this close to going completely off the handle."

"Please, he was never going to hurt me."

"Right," Jensen chuckled. "Anyways, he didn't seem so vulnerable and he definitely didn't seem all that naïve. I'm sure he's really nice to you, but to anyone who's not you—it's definitely not the same."

"I've known him since forever and the person you're describing doesn't even sound like him at all."

The microwave started beeping so Jensen popped open the door and carefully took out the containers. When he placed a utensil in to see if it was heated all the way through, he saw that it was still frozen in the center. With a sigh he took out a plate from the cabinet and decided to pull out what he could onto the plate and microwaved that instead. "Maybe you don't know him that well. You just know one side to him. All I'm saying is that from the outside, he's kinda intimidating. His voice isn't rough or anything, but it's deep and somewhat commanding with perfect diction—as soon as he says something, I'm sure everyone's paying attention and I bet he uses that to his advantage. Didn't you say he was a director at CC?"

"Yeah, that's what he said."

"Very prestigious and at a place like that—you have to know something. They don't just let anyone work there and it's even harder to move up in the ranks. You can't be a pushover."

"How do you know all that?" Aster asked with arms crossed.

"Is that even a real question? You know where I live and who I live with. I hear stuff all the time and it's even easier when adults don't think you're old enough to understand things."

"Well, even so, I know him better than anybody. I know what's best for him—trust me. We have to get rid of Chi-Chi."

Jensen watched the microwave with a dreary expression. There was no way he was going to do anything about Chi-Chi no matter how much Aster begged and pleaded with him. For one thing, if either Gohan or Pan found out about it, his life would probably be forfeit. Other than Aster's word, nothing terrible seemed to be happening. He understood her need to want to protect her father. After all the stories she'd told him about Auden, he was practically a dainty flower that should never leave the house. His own impression of the man didn't seem to match her description, however. Either there was something different about him now or she didn't really know him as much as she thought. When the microwave beeped again, he took it out and found the food to be piping hot. He placed it on the counter waiting for it to cool off some as he carefully mixed the contents to even out the heat. It smelled heavenly, but he didn't want to burn his tongue off.

"Unless someone has made a conscious decision to do so, it's not good for people to isolate themselves from others. Any therapist will tell you that. It must be incredibly lonely and exhausting to always keep others at arm-length."

"He has me."

"Yeah, his daughter." He glanced over at her. "That's not enough."

Aster looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Why not? He can tell me anything."

Jensen shook his head as he felt how hot the plate was. Determining that he could lift it with his bare hands without too much trouble, he grabbed the sides and headed for the dining room table with Aster in tow. "He's not going to tell you everything. That's how dads are or parents for that matter. He raised you as best he could, kept a roof over your head. He'll always see you as someone to protect or provide for, not someone who's his equal with which to share everything with. Those boundaries are there whether you choose to acknowledge them or not." Jensen climbed into one of the chairs after setting the plate onto one of the placement mats.

"He's…told me something like that before," Aster said faltering a little. "And it still doesn't make sense. Relationships can be whatever we make them. We don't have to follow all the rules."

"Those rules are there for a reason and for someone like your father, they probably mean a lot."

"What do you mean, 'someone like'?"

"From what you told me, he doesn't express himself physically in a romantic relationship—which means the whole thing must be some sort of mental exercise for him. If he treated you the way you wanted him to, there would no longer be much distinction between someone who he's romantically involved with versus a close friendship with a family member. That line is probably more heavily drawn than most—it's probably really important. I'm just speculating."

"It sounds like you're making excuses." She was pacing back and forth in front of Jensen as he partook in a very late dinner. "It's sounds like you're totally okay with him engaging in all these risky behaviors. It always looks fine at first. We can all come up with convenient reasons as to why it's fine for someone to put themselves out there, but you have to put it into context. Taking a risk means something different for Dad. I told you that before and yet you're sitting there like all of this is normal, not even taking any of that into account."

Jensen finished off a few bites of food before responding. He paused and looked at her squarely. She stopped moving for a moment. "Listen to me, Aster. I guess I'll have to tell you this plainly. Unless you actually plan on dating your own father, you will never be enough."

Aster gasped involuntarily at the very notion. "Th-That's not what's I want at all! You're putting words in my mouth."

"Keep your voice down," Jensen said wearily. "I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

Aster frowned and then pulled out a chair to sit down in. "Didn't you say it's easier to manipulate people when they're asleep?"

"Perhaps."

"This is the perfect time then."

"It's as if I've been talking to a brick wall." He continued on his food in earnest deciding the taste was better than trying to further explain himself to her.

"After everything I've told you about Dad, you really don't think he's in a dangerous situation? I still can't believe what I'm seeing right now. You haven't seen him when he's completely broken. I don't want to see that ever happen again. I _can't_ let that happen again."

"Alright," Jensen said after he'd down the majority of what was on the plate. "In theory, what would you have me do?"

"Make her disinterested in Auden. Make her want to distance herself."

"And what if she actually likes him?"

"So what? It doesn't matter."

"What if they both like each other?"

"Dad would get the memo if she decides on her own to leave him. He did with Pan."

"Manipulating something like love is pretty risky. I'm not sure if that's something I ever want to touch honestly. I'm also not an expert in figuring out how something is going to affect someone. Often times, little changes around the edges is all it takes rather than completely changing someone's mind."

"Okay, then do that."

Jensen sighed wearily at this. "I'll think about it."

"You'll think about it?" Aster asked as if it should have been a done deal already. "Meanwhile, that woman is pushing him closer and closer to the edge of a cliff."

"I get it. You don't have to be so dramatic. I just have to be careful about this stuff. No matter how you slice it, it's never a good thing to impose your will on others. Like I said, there has to be a really good reason or something that won't change things too much. What if someone decided that they knew what was best for us and forced us to act accordingly? We would hate that, if we knew it was happening."

"But people don't know when it's happening, right? When you change someone's mind, then it's changed. They're none the wiser. No harm done."

"That's true. It's just hypothetically, if people knew, they wouldn't like it."

"To hell with your hypotheticals."

"I like hypotheticals."

Aster rolled her eyes at this and then walked over to take up his now empty plate.

"Hey," Jensen began when she did this.

"I'll take it. You're my guest after all."

Jensen still protested, but Aster ignored him as she went to the sink and quickly cleaned everything up including the empty containers, placing them in the drying rack. All Jensen could do was watch helplessly, slightly embarrassed.

She turned back to him with a wink. "So, are you gonna' stay here and keep me company?"

"I guess I should go back home," he said looking away.

"You don't actually want to go home," Aster stated matter-of-factly. "I can tell. Just stay here with me. You know I have a room all to myself."

"And it's okay with your dad that I'm here unannounced?"

"He doesn't care. He lets me do whatever I want."

Jensen had his doubts about this, but it sounded better than having to be in the same vicinity as Bra. He'd never get any sleep, if it came to that. He took her up on her offer. It wasn't as if they hadn't shared a bed together before, they simply hadn't done it at her place.

Her bed was probably the smallest one they'd tried sleeping together on. She was constantly apologizing, but he didn't care. Jensen hardly had a preference of beds. After attempting various positions, they ended up in the obvious one where they laid side-by-side on their back at least for the time being looking up to the barren ceiling.

"It's been awhile," Aster said quietly, "Since I've spent much time here."

"Well, you always kept saying it was boring and there's nothing to do."

"That's 'cus it _is_ boring with nothing to do. Your place is way cooler. You could get lost in there. I can't imagine living like that."

"This seems nice too. Everything's closer. You know where things are. It feels…a little safer."

Aster chortled at this. "I guess, but there's a lot more random people around. I've never met our neighbors before."

"Hm, maybe they like keeping to themselves."

"Everyone likes keeping to themselves."

They were quiet for a while as they had no more to say to one another. Aster was already yawning which in turn caused him to do the same eventually. There was a bright streetlight just outside the closed blinded window that his eyes kept drifting to. He should have been annoyed, but he didn't have the energy for that sort of thing. It was just an oddity. His room had always been completely dark at night. Here, in the midst of the city, things still felt alive. He could still hear passing cars. It was quiet enough, though, for anyone truly tired enough to fall asleep.

"Aster?" Jensen said quietly.

When she didn't respond, he knew she'd already turned in. Must have been nice. But he was restless as he stretched out a little more on the bed. He couldn't move too much or else he might disturb her. He had to listen closely to hear the soft whispers of her breath as she slipped further into slumber. He wondered if she'd be so keen on manipulating minds, if it was done to her. She would have been an easy target, a prime target actually. He knew how her mind worked so well that he could better understand how changes to her thoughts would affect her emotionally. Of course, he could never bring himself to do it, but it was always a habit of his to forever lose himself in what-if scenarios. What would he change about her? He couldn't think of anything at the moment. Maybe there was nothing to change. Anything that would take away from her passionate nature would be a literal crime. When she really cared about someone, she would go to extreme means to make sure they were always safe and always happy. Sometimes it could be smothering, but in the case of her father, it was a little inappropriate. It wasn't like he was the injured lamb she'd made him out to be. He was far from that, but she simply couldn't see that for herself.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, he climbed out of bed and quietly made his way down the hall towards the door of Auden's room. Even without fully opening the door, he could still hear that they were definitely asleep. When he stepped in, he noticed they'd changed positions again—turned toward each other. He'd come up with something that he felt comfortable engaging with that didn't include actively sabotaging a relationship. There was an underlying issue that Jensen felt Aster was more concerned about and her calls for kicking the woman out was just a means to an end.

When he felt he was close enough, he closed his eyes so that he might parse through the thoughts of someone who would otherwise be impenetrable were they fully conscious. He wasn't altogether sure if anything was happening since he still found himself surrounded by darkness. He stepped forward a little and felt that the ground beneath his feet sounded a little different than the carpet he'd been standing on before.

"I wouldn't go any further if I were you," said the very familiar voice of Auden. "You might fall."

He didn't seem particularly concerned about that. Jensen sensed an overall disinterest in his tone. In any case, he'd successfully entered his dreams. Manipulating thoughts were more straightforward than this method, but it was the only avenue left to him at the moment. For Chi-Chi, there were plenty of people who still cared about her and might retaliate if anything went wrong. With Auden, there was far less risk associated.

"Thanks," Jensen said turning towards the voice. He couldn't see anything though. Jensen stepped back a little, but it was a little disconcerting considering that he couldn't see his own feet. "Are you busy right now?" he asked as the silence drew out and became more pronounced.

"Not really," he answered simply. "I was waiting for something, but I can't remember what that was."

"Maybe it wasn't anything important," Jensen replied, already seeing an opening. "Maybe you were waiting for me."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"I wanted to talk to you about Chi-Chi."

Jensen waited for a response, but Auden was strangely quiet.

"I think you should be careful around her. You should protect yourself against any potential downfalls."

There was more silence and Jensen was beginning to feel a little apprehensive. Was he still there or was he talking to the air? "Auden?"

"I've heard that voice before," Auden said distantly. "I can't seem to place it."

Jensen moved closer to where he was hearing the voice in hopes of seeing something in an environment that seemed entirely featureless. "It's not really important. I just wanted to warn you. Your daughter is very worried about you."

"Of course she is," he said back wearily. "I can't even pee the wrong way without her losing her mind."

"That's…just her way," Jensen said resisting the urge to laugh. He was trying to maintain a somber mood so that he could be perceived as someone to actually listen to.

"She's seen me at my lowest—it must have really bothered her how easily and how completely I could give up on everything. Sometimes it's easier not to fight at all. You realize how overwhelmingly hopeless it all is. You find yourself falling with nothing to grasp onto. It becomes inescapable. Why must so many of us fight and struggle for so long just to achieve some modicum of happiness? Why is it so important that we do? And why must there be someone who cares that a person has decided that it simply isn't worth it any longer?"

"Auden…" Jensen said slowly wondering over all the rhetorical questions. He couldn't think of an easy answer. It was true. Happiness was often so fleeting that perhaps, if it was our goal, it wasn't worth so much suffering to achieve. "Sometimes I wonder the same thing." It was people like Aster who insisted that it was worth it without question, without ever spending much time figuring out why that was the case. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he spent so much time around her—so that he could keep fighting no matter how hopeless things become.

"We can't predict what might happen from day to day, but living inside of a bubble or hiding somewhere in a cave never to see the light of day, is not living at all, it's simply waiting until the inevitable end. I understand her worry, but I'm willing to take that risk. I think it's necessary for my continued sanity. I hope one day she could respect that and not blame herself if something happens to go wrong. She cannot control the world around her to suit her tastes. Attempting to do so will eventually bring her more misery than one person could possibly handle. People make their own choices—she must accept them."

"I hope she understands that as well," Jensen said after a moment. He'd never heard such sentiments articulated quite so clearly. He doubted he could relay the same words in the same way to Aster. Not that it would matter. Aster would always be Aster no matter how much he tried to tell her to stop worrying over things that can't really be controlled.

On that note, Jensen decided that it was probably a good idea to leave. He'd planted Aster's warning—that was as much "manipulation" he was willing to do. It wouldn't be something Auden could easily forget or pass over as trivial. But even with that, Jensen wondered if he was doing too much. Auden seemed to have come to his decision in a rational way—it was hard to argue with his reasoning. It wasn't as if he was being rash or didn't know about Aster's worry; Auden felt it was something he had to do regardless.

"What would happen if you fell down into that abyss?"

Auden's voice was much closer now and when Jensen turned back, he could make out a figure in the darkness. For some reason, that caused him to involuntarily shiver. He tried to leave, but he realized that he was being forced to stay. Jensen was sure Auden had no idea what he was doing, but at this point he was exerting his will over his presence—it was not something Jensen could fight against since whoever mind he was inhabiting would always have the advantage. Doubly so if it was someone who had natural immunity against him.

"I don't know," Jensen said managing to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Would you like to experience it for yourself?"

"N-No, sir," Jensen squeaked suddenly feeling quite small.

"That's too bad. I want to see it."

He felt himself being pushed back to that place he'd been warned earlier not to go. "Please!"

"It's all just a dream, isn't it? Don't worry so much."

"But—please, you don't understand—

He felt himself thrown into the air and he heard himself screaming involuntarily. Below him was a darkness even deeper than the one he'd been occupying. He'd fell down something like this before—it seemed as if everyone had at some point within their own dreams, but doing so in someone else's dream felt far more frightening and endless. While he was falling, he felt his heart beating a mile a minute and he could barely breathe. He had to summon all of his concentration to bring himself back to his own body finally free of Auden's overwhelming presence.

When he could open his own eyes, he felt himself grasping for breath as he fell to the ground—he was making too much noise. He paused in pure fear when he heard more rustling than usual upon the bed. It took his eyes a moment to readjust to the natural darkness, but when he did, he realized that Auden was looking directly at him—he'd already sat up completely. Jensen's breath caught in his throat hoping the man's terrible eyesight wasn't actually making him out.

"What are you doing here?" Auden finally said with sleep still in his voice, breaking the tense silence. "You know I can see you, right?"

"Oh, um—"

"Aster put you up to this?"

All Jensen could do was nod though he instantly hated himself for ratting her out so easily. If he hadn't mentioned her and used her as a shield to his potential wrath, things might've gone worse.

"Whatever it is you're planning on doing, I guarantee it's not a good idea."

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Now—get out of my room," he growled.

Jensen was scrambling, almost tripping over himself to get to the entrance.

"And close the door on your way out," Auden called out though not too loudly as to disturb Chi-Chi.

Jensen obediently closed the door making sure not to slam it and then ran off to Aster's room. He wondered if he shouldn't just leave altogether, but that would end up leaving the front door unlocked and either having to wake up Aster or bothering Auden more to lock it behind him. He hid in Aster's room while on full alert, sitting on the floor near the bed. Then after long tense minutes passed and nothing further occurred, he climbed back into bed careful not to wake Aster. She was a deep sleeper in the first place, but it never hurt to be cautious.

Eventually, he was back to staring up at the ceiling unable to calm his racing mind. After sighing in boredom for the third time, he thought he might pour himself a glass of ice-cold water. It was something Bunny would do for him whenever she found him somewhere still up late into the night. He wondered if she ever slept. He walked as quietly as he could out of the room once again and down the short hall that led directly to the living room that was attached to the dining room. He was not expecting there to be someone else occupying the living room already. When he heard movement there on the couch, his heart skipped a beat.

Jensen stood still as if he were a thief in the night who had just been caught red handed. Was it Auden? Why hadn't he heard anyone pass down the hall if that was the case? He took a tentative step back hoping to slink away without being noticed.

"Jensen," came Auden's steady voice. "Get over here and sit down—with all your creeping around."

He was caught and there was no use in trying to hide now. With slumped shoulders, he shambled into the living room and sat on the couch cattycornered to the one Auden happened to be sitting in. It was still quite dark, and he couldn't see him very well. It reminded him eerily of the dream. When Jensen heard the soft ting of ice hitting glass as Auden lifted a glass to place to his lips, he thought only of the glass of water he'd failed at getting himself. Now it seemed his failure would be thoroughly rubbed into his face.

"I would turn the light on, but I hate turning them on so late," he said wearily.

Jensen was wondering when he was going to begin drilling him with a million questions. He sat ramrod straight in the chair only glancing Auden's way and staring at the closed blinds directly ahead of him across the room—it gave him the illusion of safety. The silence was drawn out a while as he listened to the other leisurely taking down whatever was in that glass. He felt the man's eyes on him the entire time and he was growing more and more anxious by the minute.

"Nothing to say for yourself, huh?" Auden asked.

Jensen wanted to say something but he didn't want to dig an even bigger hole, so he remained quiet. He heard Auden chuckle at this. This man was in full control of the situation. He couldn't possibly be the vulnerable lamb that Aster was always making him out to be.

"Don't want to say anything incriminating. That's fine. I don't really care whatever it is you were doing before. Since I have your undivided attention, though, I'd like to thank you for ruining my perfectly restful night that featured no nightmares or the usual restlessness. If you desperately wanted to get on my good side, that was the perfect way to do it."

Aster claimed that her father had issues expressing emotions. Maybe she was just really bad at recognizing them. Jensen could clearly read the irritation off his tone alone. "I'm sorry." He said finally.

"Right," Auden said brushing him off easily. Jensen heard as the other took another long draft from the glass—he hoped it was water and nothing else…stronger. "I'm worried about Aster." He let the sentence hang in the air a bit before continuing. "I can't seem to stop worrying about her and I'm not sure why. I thought…Well, it took me a long time to allow her some space and independence. I always needed her to do exactly as I wanted at precisely the right time. To relinquish that sort of control over her life was one of the most difficult things I'd ever done—to trust that she could take care of herself without me. Yet here I am back to square one. Back to being overly concerned about what she's doing every second of the day. I can't ignore it."

Jensen's eyes widened when he realized what he was getting at. That suggestion he had given him: to be careful around Chi-Chi and to protect himself. That had been the main point, but what if it was irrelevant? Suggesting someone to do something that they already do wouldn't do much to change someone's behavior. He'd mentioned that Aster was worried about him. Somehow the message had been changed to him worrying about Aster. There was no exact way to interpret his own abilities and there was always some level of uncertainty when dealing with dreams or just thoughts in general. It was one of the big reasons why he often hesitated to use them in the first place. They could have unintended results. He'd long suspected that his powers dealt more with intentions rather than the exact words used. Perhaps, Aster simply wanted the attention that was presently being taken by Chi-Chi. She didn't want to see her father in a relationship because then she wouldn't be the center of his universe anymore. Maybe that was the true message all along and he'd passed on her intentions onto him unwittingly.

"You're around her almost all the time, aren't you?" Auden asked.

"Y-Yes," he stammered. The guilt was already starting to trip him up. Not to mention that he had no idea that this used to be such a huge problem in the past and he was just ripping open old wounds or worse directly responsible for tearing down someone who'd worked hard to improve themselves.

"I want you to—no I need you to keep me updated on her whereabouts throughout the day."

Jensen's eyebrows furrowed at the impossibility. "You want me to call—

"I want you to text me—isn't that what kids do these days? Just text me every hour."

"Every hour?" Jensen asked taken aback.

"And don't tell Aster about it. This is just between me and you."

Jensen stared at him with disbelief wondering if he was being serious. "Sir, you're…" He paused before he finished because he didn't want to piss him off even more, but it had to be said. "Crazy." He meant for that to come out with more teeth, but it was more of a whisper than anything else.

"I've heard that before," Auden replied unperturbed. "You'll do that for me, won't you?"

He sounded so matter-of-factly, that it seemed like a done deal already. He really had no choice but to agree, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It sounded too outlandish and he didn't want to just lie about it just to get him off his back.

"If you don't," Auden began when Jensen was quiet for too long, "You won't like the consequences. It's very easy for me to ruin people's lives and with you being a Brief—I'm sure you have a lot to lose whether you realize it or not. If you depend on technology in any way, it can be turned against you…very discreetly and very anonymously."

Jensen gulped involuntarily. Was this a threat? Should he take this seriously? Auden really hadn't given him a reason to think that he wouldn't go to such extreme measures just to make a point. Soft and vulnerable indeed, Jensen thought to himself grimly. "Don't worry, it's not a problem—I'll keep you updated," he replied hoarsely.

"Good. As long as you make an honest effort, you have nothing to worry about."

Jensen let out a sigh of relief, however, he didn't feel very relieved afterwards. Besides, he was still being keenly observed by Auden. He could make out the fact that he still didn't have on his eyeglasses—how well could he possibly be seeing him? There was another stretch of silence and the tenseness in his muscles wouldn't let up. He simply couldn't relax in the chair—a far cry from how Auden sat with legs splayed open, taking up almost half the couch. Jensen noticed after a while that he could no longer feel the other's gaze. He was looking elsewhere.

"Ugh, my head—this is a wonderful start for a Wednesday," Auden rumbled almost inaudibly.

"I could get you some aspirin," Jensen volunteered automatically.

"Oh, really?" he said with suspicion heavy in his tone. "How nice. It's in the—

"Bathroom in the cabinet," Jensen said quickly as he stood up. "I know."

"Great."

Jensen escaped the hellhole known as the living room at nearly breakneck speed just so he could recover a modicum of sanity. Even Vegeta wasn't that weird. Something told him, though, that he probably shouldn't test this theory out with Vegeta…He found the cabinet easily enough and pulled out the chosen drug for this early morning rendezvous. He noticed quickly that the cabinet was looking a lot more sparse than usual and held mostly over-the-counter medicine like NyQuil and Ibuprofen. He didn't really have time to dwell on the irregularities fearing that Auden might have some issue with him taking too long to get back.

He was still as quiet as possible, gently setting the bottle on the table and lightly sitting down on the couch so that he wouldn't convey anything that could be misconstrued as agitation. He heard as the pills were taken quite expertly considering it was so dark. Then another stretch of silence ensued. Jensen still wasn't brave enough to simply get up and leave. Something told him that he'd better not do that right now. He was still on trial.

"So what brings you here, Jensen? I heard the Briefs had quite a spacious abode—empty rooms as far as the eyes can see."

Jensen was already desperately trying to figure out an acceptable response to this. He wondered why he didn't have one readily available since it was an obvious one to ask.

"Is it too personal?" Auden questioned further.

"N-No, it's just better here. Right now."

"Better?" he said with a laugh. "Right. Must be some trouble in paradise. Are you running away from home?"

"It's not that," Jensen said immediately. He knew he was going to keep badgering him until he gave something more substantial. "It's just—I don't like the current residents there."

"Hmm, family problems?"

"Ah…yes."

"And what is distancing yourself from the problem going to do for you in the long run?"

Jensen finally turned to look at Auden, tiring of all the questions. "It'll keep me from doing something I'll regret later." His hands hand unconsciously balled up into fists.

"Do you hate your entire family?"

"No, of course not!" he said a little too loudly. "It's not like that. It's just one person. One person just gets under my skin no matter what she does."

"A 'she'," he noted and then took down the rest of the contents in the glass. "I see. You needed some time to cool off. Well, don't take too long 'cooling off'. Time is too short for petty quarrels."

"It's not petty," Jensen argued back. "That woman is the reason my dad is dead. She took advantage of his kindness and weakened him until his body gave out altogether. And now she's decided to come back home, and we're supposed to welcome her back with open arms. Well, I cannot. Leave it up to my family to have enough clout to hide the fact that my dad's death wasn't suicide."

"Not suicide?" Auden asked mildly interested. "Are you going to tell me that everyone has it wrong?"

Jensen wondered if he should be so candid in front of someone he wasn't completely familiar with, but it was too late and he was already on a roll. To be honest, he wanted to tell the whole world. He'd been sworn to secrecy by Bulma and she could be scary too. But this was Auden, the guy who'd helped Bulma with finding the dragon balls in the first place and he couldn't be pushed around so easily. He seemed discerning enough to keep that information to himself.

"It definitely wasn't suicide. Someone administered a deadly combination of drugs to him that led directly to his death and he was already compromised as it is because he was dealing with chronic heart issues."

"Hm, and what does 'that woman' have to do with this?"

"She's the reason he was compromised in the first place. She's the reason he had to deal with all those side effects. She's the reason he couldn't simply just keep taking the medication the doctor prescribed to him in the first place because she threw them away exacerbating the issues he already had leading him to take much harder drugs to deal with his insomnia. Maybe you don't know what that feels like, not ever being able to truly rest. It makes everything else so much harder to deal with. It makes you delirious. And you start making stupid decisions because you're desperate enough to try anything that might ease the symptoms. And he died because of it. At every turn, she was there to make things worse. Never once did she take it seriously that he was only human and that needing proper care wasn't inherently bad or showing weakness."

"A shrewd lawyer could make her partially responsible for his death, but it would be a difficult case to prove. There's the glaring reality that your father was complicit in all of it. He was never forced to do anything. If anything, it sounds like he was guilty for putting his trust in someone who ultimately didn't have his best interest at heart. It happens to the best of us."

Jensen looked away when he said this. "Yeah, I know my father was being stupid, but…"

"From the outside it might look like that. It depends on what someone holds most important to them—their own wellbeing or the wellbeing of others. The legacy he might leave behind, the happiness of his family, his reputation. It's not always so easy breaking ties with someone despite the obvious signs of toxicity. For just a moment a bliss, you'll find that most people are willing to sacrifice quite a bit."

"You're…probably right."

"We're both just speculating, but you know him better than I ever will. You'll have to decide for yourself what you want to believe."

Hearing such reasoning brought the situation into a different perspective, but Bra still had a role in it all. That was still something he couldn't forgive. At the same time, he'd told his father that he shouldn't trust her, but his father had made his own decision on the matter. He was still…Jensen didn't want to even think the words out loud. Pinning the responsibility squarely on Bra's shoulder wasn't completely fair though that didn't stop him from doing it.

"Leave it up to the Briefs to hide the full truth from the general public. The amount of control they have over the information people have access to is pretty unnerving. I'm sure CC has more than a few skeletons in the closet."

"It's to keep the peace," Jensen said after a few moments. "That's what Bulma says anyway."

"Bulma says a lot of things in the guise of altruism. I'm not sure she even knows what the word means."

Jensen snorted at this and wondered how true that statement was.

"Why don't you head off to bed before you divulge any more confidential information."

The trial must have been over. Had he passed his evaluation? He hadn't meant to talk so much but it was better than having Auden suspicious of him—that might be far worse than the alternative. "You won't…tell anyone, right?"

Auden chuckled at this. "It would be in my best interest not to. Besides, you make for a very unreliable source."

"Well," Jensen began satisfied with his answer. He stood up from the sofa stretching out his muscles that were just beginning to scream under such unrelenting tension. "Good night then."

He left before Auden could change his mind. He'd wanted a glass of water, but now he just wanted to go to bed, tired out by the entire exercise. At least he'd become a bit more acquainted with Aster's father. He was just as crazy as he thought. Could a mere suggestion really set him off this far? Texting him every hour? Overbearing didn't even begin to describe it. He wasn't supposed to tell Aster, but how was he going to keep that a secret? And how serious was Auden's threat?

He crawled into bed and didn't find it too difficult drifting off.

* * *

Chi-Chi awoke to an empty bed beside her. Auden wasn't generally the early riser and that was only ever the case when he had a difficult night. She'd thought after his doctor significantly lessened the medication, he would have less side effects to deal with. That didn't seem to be the case today. For a while though, everything had been perfect. Maybe too perfect. It always made her nervous when that was case. She was always waiting for the next obstacle that would take her down from her high. Besides, she wasn't even sure if she deserved any of this. Wasn't he too nice? Wasn't he too willing to provide for her? What was he expecting in return? With a yawn, she climbed out of bed and commenced her morning hygiene routine, finishing within twenty minutes. She'd even changed clothes by the time she made it down the hallway and into the dining room. Immediately, she could hear the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. Exactly how long had he already been up?

Breakfast in the morning smelled wonderful, doubly so if she wasn't involved with making it. She was already in a brighter mood. Being catered to was something she still wasn't used to, but she was certainly becoming a huge fan of it. Now being in her husband's usual position, she could understand why he loved it when she pampered him with food. She closed her eyes listening to the familiar sounds of meat sizzling in a hot pan. She knew that he was finished when she could hear the swishing and scrubbing sounds of someone quickly cleaning out the pan that was just used and the stovetop being wiped down as well. She was in heaven. She was being spoiled to death.

"Good morning," he said, clearly not put off by the fact that she was sitting there waiting.

He wasn't wearing his eyeglasses and it was still something she had to get used to. After coming home late yesterday, Auden told her that following the vision test, it was decided that he no longer required corrective lens. No one knew why that was the case. In fact, the doctor was so flabbergasted that he took several tests just to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. Despite there being no explanation, they had to follow the data. He was also told to come back in once a week to see if any changes occurred just to be sure there weren't any underlying issues at play.

Now she could see those royal blue eyes of his sparkling with pleasure without any obstruction. She hoped her poor heart would be able to cope…

"Good morning," she replied with a smile as he sat the plate down in front of her with utensils already placed on it. "Oh, wow, this looks even better than last time," she pointed out. The crepes looked absolutely amazing with the swizzled chocolate syrup on top and a dollop of whipped cream.

"Well, I was a lot more careful and I had someone special in mind."

And there was that ridiculous blushing again that she really had no control over at this point. She was hoping he wouldn't comment on it and make it worse. She tried out the scrambled eggs first—not overcooked, bright, yellow and fluffy, seasoned with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. They were superb. It was almost too much. It almost didn't seem real. "You're up really early," Chi-Chi noted.

He was fully dressed as well and they had plenty of time before he had to be at work. "It wasn't a great night," he admitted without her having to drag it out of him. "I was already up so I might as well make the best of it."

"Nightmares again?"

"Not that exactly. Did you know Jensen was here?" he asked seemingly changing the subject.

"No," she said with furrowed eyebrows. "The boy from before?"

"Aster's 'friend' who happens to be a boy. Must have came in really late."

"Wait, by himself?" Chi-Chi asked confused.

"No, I'm sure Aster must have invited him. But, looks like they're both crashing here today."

"Well, that's news to me. Maybe I should make something for them then," she said thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't bother. I'm sure they can take care of themselves."

She looked at him with a grin, but then continued on her delightful plate of food. That was when she heard him yawn though he politely covered it with a hand. "You sure you're going to be alright today?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," he said unconcerned. "You just make sure to tire me out later on today like you always do."

"That suspiciously sounds like you're looking forward to it. Maybe I'll throw in something a little extra this time."

"Maybe I've said too much," he said this time with actual worry in his voice.

Chi-Chi giggled at this. "You'll have to see. By the way, is it okay if I go with you to work again?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that."

"After spending yesterday with nothing to do, suddenly spending time in that recreational area doesn't seem so horrible."

"Then it left a good impression on you?"

"There's a lot to do there," she said with nod, "And it would be nice to talk to more people. It's just…"

Auden looked up when she let the sentence hang for a while.

"Being treated like royalty will be something to get used to."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, nevermind. Let's just say you've left a good impression on everyone and you have far more admirers than you realize."

"As long as you're being treated well, that's good enough for me."

Chi-Chi wasn't sure if he understood what she was getting at, but she left it at that. While he wasn't completely ignorant to the culture at work, she wondered how well he knew his own reputation and how widespread it was. She wondered if he'd believe her if she tried to explain.

They finished breakfast quickly and left his apartment for good all before Aster and Jensen even began to stir. They'd be out for the rest of the day and Chi-Chi was ready for another action-packed day.

* * *

The day flew by quickly. Chi-Chi swam, rollerbladed, played pool and card games, and tried her hand at archery. Auden joined her at least for part of it much to everyone's delight including herself. He apparently didn't have to spend every waking minute in the office and lab. He could take breaks if he wanted to at his discretion being the director. Chi-Chi knew that it must have been good all-around for morale as she saw the swift change from the relaxed atmosphere of the recreational area to an energetic buzz once the news spread rapidly that Auden was around. Surely he must have noticed, but she wasn't entirely sure.

Maybe he really did want to be tired out today or he just had an extra burst of energy. Whatever the case, Chi-Chi was glad to see it. She couldn't be entirely certain, but she thought she saw his phone out much more often than usual. He was at work after all, so she didn't think much of it. She was only able to gather part of his attention at lunch and that alarmed her the most. Something didn't seem right. Was his job so important that he needed to keep checking his phone for updates over and over again?

By the time Chi-Chi was strolling towards Auden again at the end of the workday, his face was already in his phone.

"After getting such a miraculous prognosis for the optometrist, you just can't wait to ruin your eyes again with all that direct light." He didn't respond as she watched him tapping rapidly on the screen likely replying to some correspondence. "Auden?" she said this time drawing his glance.

"Huh? Ah, yes," he replied slipping the phone back into his pocket. "We should get going."

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?" she said as she walked easily beside him despite his somewhat rapid pace.

He looked at her a little confused, but she didn't press the issue. Clearly there had been something else on his mind. Once they made it to the car, Chi-Chi found herself waiting almost ten minutes before he even placed the keys into the ignition, and she was wondering if she shouldn't drive herself since he seemed so distracted.

"Auden? Are we going anywhere, anytime soon?"

"Right…" Auden said barely responding to her words as he finally pulled himself away from his phone which had apparently become the most fascinating thing in the world. "To that park, right?" he asked after another long moment.

"Yeah," Chi-Chi said drawing out the word looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

At the very least, he started the car. Chi-Chi had a mind to grab the phone and chuck it out the window, but she resisted the urge. He probably wouldn't like that. He might even be overly horrified as if she stepped on a puppy—Chi-Chi wouldn't put it past him. In fact, the air was a little tense as she imagined herself throwing phones out windows and Auden not really engaging her in conversation the entire way to the usual park. Or maybe she was reading too far into things. Maybe she was too eager to sabotage something that seemed too good to be true. Maybe there was some legitimate reason why his phone seemed so important today. She tried to convince herself of these things, but she quickly grew annoyed when his phone was out after barely taking a few steps out of the car and they were making their way to their usual spot. No time for idle chatting it seemed.

Once they made it there and he still hadn't looked up, she could no longer resist the urge to do what she did next. Without any further warning, she stalked over and snatched the treacherous phone out of his hand—that got his attention quickly enough.

"Hey!" he shouted surprised. In pure reaction, he tried to reach for it again, but she was much too quick for his poor reflexes. He stopped attempting to take it back after the second time sensing that it was useless. He looked at her as if she'd just lost her mind.

"Tell me what's so fascinating on this phone today," she demanded with a frown.

His expression soon became weary as he opted instead to sit down on the nearby bench. "Let me show you."

Chi-Chi stood still for a moment watching and then decided that they wouldn't get anywhere like this. At the moment, he was looking distantly at the sprawling lawn—his thoughts seemingly on some other topic altogether. She decided to join him on the bench and grudgingly handed him the phone back. This time she watched the bright screen as he made sure she could clearly see what he was doing. It was still difficult to follow as a confusing jumble of screens flashed by with mere flicks of his thumb to eventually reveal a screen of text boxes. He scrolled to the top and then handed it to her again.

She looked at him confused. "What is this?"

"Messages," he said, still holding it out to her. "The first one is from Jensen." He indicated where that very name showed up under an image on the side. After she didn't take the phone up in her hand preferring for him to guide her, he took it fully into his grasp again. "I replied in the next one and so on and so forth."

"So the green boxes are you and the black boxes is Jensen?"

"Correct."

It started to make more sense and she was aware that he was being quite patient with her. She knew she must have been asking stupid questions, but he seemed unconcerned about that. He wanted her to understand.

"This…" she said as she began to read the messages and her eyebrows began to furrow. She was reading a long series of rather intrusive questions about Aster and what she was doing over and over again like a broken record. She wasn't sure if this was normal—maybe it was something people did these days—but she knew that it didn't sit well with her. "Geez, Auden...All day?" It took her a moment to notice the timestamps and quickly answered her own question.

"Yes."

Chi-Chi took a deep breath trying to figure out what she should say to this. "Is it something you do all the time?"

"Not in a long time. Today, all of a sudden, I had an inescapable need to know where she was at all points of the day. It was difficult for me to focus on anything else. I really don't know any other way to explain it."

"Okay," she said looking at him trying to see if there was anything else there to glean from his expression. "We should try to get to the bottom of this. Having distractions like this isn't good for anyone. Not to mention I'm sure this Jensen probably doesn't want to respond to your messages all day."

"Probably."

"So let's do some meditation again."

"The one that leads to wanton destruction of public property?"

"It won't be like that this time because you're already aware of your own ki, right? We have a different goal in mind."

She had no idea if this would work. She wondered if this was just another quirk of Auden's personality. After all, she didn't know him that well. While she was used to dealing with men with strange behaviors, Auden was quickly taking the cake.

Eventually, they were sitting down on the grassy lawn with crossed legs. She started asking him a series of questions just like last time but easy ones so that he could become more relaxed—he seemed a bit tense.

"So, how do you feel about Aster?" she asked finally drawing nearer to the question she wanted to ask.

"She's my responsibility. Despite the circumstances of her birth, I wanted to make sure she didn't have to struggle all her life based on things she had no control over."

"What were the circumstances of her birth?" Chi-Chi asked wondering if that had anything to do with anything.

"It's…not important right now. At some point, I was able to adopt her and after doing so I knew that I wanted to provide the best life possible for her."

"You adopted her?" It was something a little unexpected. She'd assumed Aster was a daughter from another marriage.

"I wasn't always a fit parent, but she was part of the reason why I wanted to be in the first place."

"I see," Chi-Chi said sensing that grilling him on this point probably wouldn't be productive. He seemed somewhat evasive. "And that's why you care so much about her because it wasn't so easy bringing her into your life. Why must you always know where she is?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"You have to dig deeper than that. Why is it you don't know?"

"I…" He paused as he gave this further thought. "Because I don't understand the origin of that need. I can't…figure out why it's so different today. It seems to have come out of nowhere."

"It had to come from somewhere."

"It feels as if it was something placed there."

"Do you honestly want to know about Aster's whereabouts?"

"I don't care where she is right now. She's a fully functioning adult who is capable of making her own decisions. If she wants to tell me, that's fine. If she doesn't, that's fine as well."

Chi-Chi was taken aback by this response. Was he lying right now? She certainly couldn't tell from his voice alone. "If that's the case, then why all the messages today?"

"I don't know. I realize that that doesn't make much sense. I'm sorry."

"No—it's fine," she said reflexively even though she was thoroughly confused. "So walk me through this. If you don't really care what she's doing right now, then there's no reason to find that out from Jensen."

"Yes, you're right," he said softly as if this fact was not obviously. "You're right," he repeated with more confidence.

"Then…" Chi-Chi began struggling to find her next words. It was then that she felt his eyes on her—he must have opened them already.

"Chi-Chi, I think I'm fine now. Let's move on to what you had planned today."

"Wait, what?" she said caught off guard, opening her eyes now trying to see if she'd missed something. "Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure."

"Just like that? You better not be lying to me."

"No," he reassured her, "I'm not. This feeling—this intense feeling from before doesn't seem real anymore. I don't know why I hadn't noticed that before. It's not real and I know exactly how I feel about things. It's hard to explain."

Chi-Chi found herself staring longer than intended with a confused expression, but Auden returned her gaze with one that was steady and quite self-assured.

"I don't think we've gotten to the bottom of this, but I also think you're being completely forthcoming." She still couldn't find anything there in his expression or gaze no matter how hard she tried to see something.

"I wish I had a better explanation for you," he said standing up and then holding his hand out to her. "All I know is that it feels a lot better not agonizing over things I don't really care to know. It's plagued me all day."

Chi-Chi took up his hand and allowed him to pull her up. She supposed she didn't really need his help, but the sentiment was appreciated. "In that case, I'm glad to have been of help." The novelty was just then beginning to fade. He said he was fine. All she could do was take his word for it. "I have something special planned today, but first, stretches."

They went through a long set of stretches that were quickly becoming routine. In teaching Auden the proper way to exercise, she was reminding herself how to do it as well. Admittedly, she'd neglected doing stretches before jogging in the past. Doing so now showed her how effective they were in combating things like cramps and soreness later. She'd just been stubborn in the past, she supposed, and she wasn't trying to show off to anyone especially to herself. Pain was something she was intimately knowledgeable about. She didn't care if she experienced it, but she didn't want to be responsible for someone else sharing in it.

Auden was a great deal more energetic today. Not only had he joined her in extraneous activities at work, but he wasn't complaining nearly as much. He still wasn't as flexible as she wanted him to be, but he was definitely better than a couple days ago and not burnt out completely after doing just a few stretches. She showed him new forms to her traditional fighting technique which he once again took to instantly. Then she went back and had him recall all the other forms she'd taught. This time, to add a little spice to the session, she increased the sets and told him to move even faster than he was used to. He tried, at the very least, but she still ended up tiring him out, this time a little sooner than before. It was different though. He seemed to enjoy it. Auden was still painfully out of breath however, and sucked in the air greedily when she released him from today's torture. There was no doubt about it—he was improving ever so slightly.

"Up for a jog?" Chi-Chi teased to the red-faced Auden.

All he could manage was a few laughs.

"I'll be back in a little while then. Don't do anything stupid."

She didn't wait for a response as she started off in earnest. As she was jogging through the park that evening, she felt an extra burst of energy knowing that she was responsible for making someone stronger, making someone feel better. The evening was cooling off with the zephyr rustling the nearby leaves. By the time she decided to head back to the bench, the stars were already starting to peek out. He wasn't just dozing off this time, he was fully asleep. His head rested on his open palm with elbow perched on the metal armrest. It was as if he were modeling for a picture. Wasn't it dangerous to look that effortlessly handsome while being so enticingly vulnerable? At that moment, she wished she had a camera so that she could capture his grace and poise. She noticed how well-manicured his hands were, how the gentle breeze ruffled his blond locks, the minute movement of his chest as he breathed deeply in and out. It seemed a crime to disturb such serenity, but a bench wasn't the best place to rest.

As usual, just calling his name was enough to rouse him though it took a bit more time than usual for him to catch his bearing—he stretched and yawned. She'd definitely done her job today in pushing him to his limits just as he seemed to have requested that morning.

"C'mon, I'll drive this time."

"Alright," he said without protest as he tossed her the keys.

She didn't get many words out of him on the way back as he struggled to fight sleep for the few minutes it took to drive home—it was a good call that she'd driven this time. Once they were in the apartment, she had to stop him before he made a beeline to the back to settle down for the evening.

"Make sure you're back out here for dinner—you have to eat after a good work out, okay?"

He looked at her wearily. "Is it really that serious? It could just wait until next morning."

"No," Chi-Chi said stolidly. "It's important that you replenish yourself now or you'll make things a lot harder for yourself later."

"Guess I'll have to take your word for it," he said before making his way now to the hallway. "And please, Chi-Chi, don't make something new—we have way too much leftovers from before."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Fine! I'll heat up your precious leftovers."

That seemed to be enough to satisfy him as he continued his shuffle to bathroom. She supposed dinner would be even easier than she'd been anticipating since she couldn't convince him to just throw things away. It wasn't that leftovers were bad, but she still wasn't used to them. Sometimes, it felt like it was beneath her. Maybe they were losing a bit of the nutrition by constantly reheating food and who knew when any of this stuff would expire? It wasn't like they couldn't afford to use fresh ingredients each day, but Auden seemed strangely insistent about not wasting food. She'd have to be a bit more mindful of the servings if she didn't want to deal with frozen food too often. For now, she heated up the stove and turned on the microwave to bring her stew back to life.

Auden joined her a few minutes later having taken a quick shower and changed into his night clothes. Of course, he smelled ridiculously nice like fresh linen and lavender—his hair looked soft and bright in the overhead kitchen light. Chi-Chi could imagine his hair feeling like the fur of a cat though she was quite aware that he definitely did not want to be petted like one. She'd given him a generous portion and he was barely able to finish it much to her amusement; she was once again dead wrong in what she thought his appetite might be, but she was starting to see somewhat of a pattern.

"Just checked the room out of curiosity—seems like our two troublemakers aren't here at the moment."

"They just come and go as they please, I guess."

Chi-Chi was more glad that she didn't have to deal with Aster once again that night. She wasn't afraid of her, but she didn't have the energy right now. Dealing with Pan's nosiness was more than enough. Why was it so hard for people to fathom that she didn't have to follow the same routine day after day in order to prove her sanity or her ability to make sound decisions? While this ease and comfort she was feeling was odd considering that she wasn't used to it, in theory she wasn't doing anything wrong. There was still some part of her that thought maybe she was indulging herself too much, but it wasn't loud enough to make her want to run away from it.

She was also glad to have Auden's full, undivided attention again without a phone getting in the way—her worst nightmare. There were times when she'd catch Gohan and Videl sharing dinner together with both of them completely preoccupied with their little handheld devices. If this was what technology was doing to relationships, then the future looked very bleak. For the most part, however, Auden seemed to pay her special attention despite how attached he was to his precious phone. She supposed she could work with that. Just as she was trying to ease him off his dependence on technology, he was constantly trying to increase her grasp on it. She wondered which one of them would win. Well, she was using a microwave of all things and she wasn't really against driving cars. She'd also successfully dragged him outside using the time he would have likely been somewhere else with a bright screen in his face.

Chi-Chi insisted that she would clean off the table that day so that he could be free to finally climb into bed. When she looked at his bowl after he left, she noticed that he hadn't actually eaten everything, but she discretely threw the rest of that way—hopefully he wouldn't actually have a problem with that. She was back in her familiar elements as she stepped into the kitchen for the final time that night to clean everything up and set things back in place.

He'd left the hallway light on so that she wouldn't be in utter darkness as she made her way back. She cleaned herself off quickly in the shower and finally joined him in the bed. By now she'd thought he'd surely be asleep, but it seemed he'd been waiting for her to join him because she could feel his eyes on her when she entered.

"Pretty eventful day, huh?" Chi-Chi said when he was silent for a while.

"Yeah, I hadn't really rollerbladed in ages. I'm surprised I didn't make a complete fool of myself out there."

"Even if you had, I'm sure they all would have still loved you."

"They never would have let me live it down if I'd fallen on my face," he said with a laugh.

"I hope you realize how popular you are at work. They kind of worship the ground you walk on."

He let her words hang in the air for awhile before replying. "I noticed that long ago. I'm not _that_ blind. I'd just rather not dwell on it else it'd make me uneasy. I'm not used to being accepted by so many people."

"Uneasy? Most people would be excited in your shoes."

"Hm," Auden rumbled thoughtfully. "I'm supposed to be excited? Would you be were you in my shoes?"

"Well…" Chi-Chi thought for a moment, "Eventually I would be. Initially, I'd be all shy about it, but I'd get used to it."

"I don't think I'd ever get used to it. People are far too fickle. In a snap, it could all change. One bad move and suddenly you don't matter anymore."

"Always waiting for the worst to happen, huh? I'm the same way. I'm used to things going wrong so I'm always bracing myself."

He hummed his agreement when he couldn't be bothered to form words. Exhaustion was slowly taking over. She could no longer feel his eyes on her, likely closed already in the pitch darkness.

"Auden," she began quietly.

"Hm?" He exhaled deeply.

"I hope nothing bad happens to us," she said.

He was quiet for a while and, for a moment, she thought he'd gone to sleep, but then he broke the silence. "I love you," he murmured softly.

"What?" Chi-Chi said sharply.

Her sharp voice seemed to jostle him out of his sleepiness a little. "I love you, Chi-Chi," he said more clearly, but still quietly.

"D-Don't say that so…nonchalantly like that," she replied in a voice much louder than his.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same," he continued frustratingly relaxed, seemingly unaware of her growing panic. "I just thought I might let you know at some point."

"Auden, y-you can't just…" But she couldn't quite find the right words and he was already dropping off again as if nothing alarming had even transpired.

She sat up suddenly petrified, but his energy remained languid as he slipped further into slumber, his breathing slowly transforming into light snores utterly unperturbed. She watched him in disbelief wanting to wake him up again so that she could explain why he shouldn't have said that. Instead she leaned her head back on the backboard distressingly. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute and an undeniable warmth began to spread within her. Was it really that easy then? Could someone so easily fall in love with the likes of her? It didn't seem real. It didn't seem right. _You don't deserve this. He's too nice. Go back home._ That small voice in the back of her mind seemed more prominent. It was the pragmatic one she'd been ignoring for far too long. She climbed out of bed at this, but she turned back to gaze at his curled form, peacefully resting away the day's toil, abundantly comfortably under his downy comforters like an innocent kitten curled in their favorite nest. It was difficult to tear her gaze away, but she needed to leave. She needed to breathe.

She grabbed her clothes from the closet, quickly changed and ran out the door making sure to take the keys with her so that she could lock it. He'd made her a separate set of keys. It hadn't seemed that strange at the time—just another odd quirk of his—but now it made more sense.

"Auden, I promise I'll be back soon, but I have to go back home now. Forgive me, I'm taking your car."

It was a nice luxury car and after the first time she'd taken it for a spin, she enjoyed how smoothly it drove and how easily the automatic stick shift could be slid around. She needed to mend things with Gohan already and it was a nice excuse to go joyriding for a few hours. For some reason, without any real proof, she knew that Auden would understand—well, whenever she got around to explaining it to him. She couldn't bear to interrupt the little kitten in his natural habitat. Something told her that he enjoyed sleeping more than what he was letting on, it just so happened that he often had trouble overcoming restlessness.

Gohan would be up, she hoped. He often stayed up to ungodly hours of the night unable to pull himself away from his very important work. She took the pins out of her hair, rolled the windows down, and pressed down on the speed once she made it to the freeway. Eventually, she tapped on the radio and cranked up the volume marveling at how empty the streets were at night at this hour. She felt as if she was driving to a new dimension as dotted and solid lines sped by her.

The hours slipped by almost without her knowing. Once she was within city limits, she slowed down only marginally and made somewhat risky turns making her way into the neighborhood and finding the right mansion on the street. Ironically, she did not have a key to this house—perhaps that needed to change since she'd lived there for years now and was just as able to leave the house on her own than anyone else. She leaped out of the car feeling far too energetic for someone her age at this time of night, and sped off to the front door before knocking with moderate force. She didn't want to wake everyone, but whoever was still up would hear it. Gohan had impeccable hearing. While she waited, she tried futilely to brush down her windswept hair with her hands. Eventually, she just shook it out as her dark and gray tendrils fell freely down her shoulders. This would have to do.

"Mom!" Gohan said a little too loudly as soon as he cracked open the door a few minutes later.

Chi-Chi immediately found herself in a warm and strong embrace from her eldest son who buried his head into her chest—she couldn't help but reciprocate. "It's alright, honey," she began sympathetically, "I'm alive and well."

It took him a while, but he eventually had his fill and pulled back from her. "Mom, you look incredible. I'm sorry about what happened, but I'm glad you're back."

She stepped further into the house closing the door behind her. "Just for a little while."

"Where have you been?" Gohan asked walking over to the switch and turning the lights on in the foyer.

"I was at a friend's place in West City," Chi-Chi said not willing to go too far into it. "I really have to talk to you."

"Mom, I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you. I don't know what I was thinking! I was really burnt out at the time and I just wasn't in the right mood. The research I've been doing…" He looked away at this. "The implications are looking bleaker and bleaker and CC isn't doing anything to make it better."

"That contamination you keep talking about?"

He nodded at her. "The more tests I run, the less accidental it all seems. Something very deliberate is going on and I have no way to pinpoint the source of it. My superiors still say it's better to keep things confidential, that the general population should not be made aware of anything just yet."

"Are you serious?" Chi-Chi said concerned. "I mean, do they have a good explanation as to why they're keeping everything hush-hush?"

"They're scared of the widespread panic and the fact that there's no way to counteract what has already come into contact with pretty much everyone globally. It would be difficult to maintain any sort of control once the cat's out of the bag. They keep telling me they're doing all they can to flush out the sources, but it keeps returning, it keeps propagating in more and more consumer products. I say 'it' but someone is doing this deliberately. That's the only way to explain all of this."

"And there's nothing we can do?"

Gohan shook his head. "The only silver lining is that I don't know how exactly it would affect humans. The real question is when will it start affecting them. That's why I need you here, Mom. It's the only way I can protect you. Not knowing where you were for days—You can't do that to me, right now. It's not safe anymore."

"You can't just keep me locked up here, Gohan. Even you said you don't know what's going to happen or when. In that case, it's like any other day then. We're all at some level of danger every time we wake up in the morning, son. By the way, I can protect myself just fine."

"Please," he said looking at her pleadingly, "This is not the time to suddenly run off on some escapade. I'm telling you it's not safe and I wouldn't say that unless I was absolutely sure. Please, Mom."

Chi-Chi crossed her arms. She noticed that he looked exhausted and it seemed as if he had lost some weight—perhaps he hadn't been eating right. If she wasn't here to drag him away from his work, apparently no one would. Videl could cook well enough, but she was always tepid about interrupting Gohan in his lab. "Damn it, Gohan, since when did you lose the ability to take care of yourself? Have I been babying you too much?"

"Mom!"

"No! You look like shit and you're making me feel guilty about something you should be taking care of. I don't care if the world is ending right now—you know better than that, Gohan! I raised you better than that!"

"Oh my god!" he said throwing his arms up in defeat. "I give up! If you want to leave, then just do that. Sorry if my caring for your wellbeing is somehow too much for you to understand!"

Chi-Chi laughed at this and his ensuing confused expression caused her to laugh even harder. It took her a moment to reign in her laughter as his expression grew more and more perplexed though it had softened as well. "We've been living together for too long. You've forgot that I'm more than just a mother and I forgot that you're not just a child anymore."

"Maybe you're onto something there," he said in less confrontational tones. "We're already down each other's throats again—and we don't even usually argue like that."

"I know you're worried about the future, but it sounds like you still have a lot of work to do. Knowing is half the battle, you know. We need to be able to counteract whatever is about to happen."

"I wish I had an estimate as to how deeply this might affect humanity as a whole, but I would be speculating right now. Someone on a large scale has systematically altered the DNA of every single human being on this planet and I don't know how that change might present itself in the population. There may not be a way to counteract anything. This may just be the new norm."

"Then, whatever's happened, has happened?" she asked for clarity.

He nodded.

"We'll just have to wait to see what comes of it then."

"Just for my peace of mind. I need to draw some blood from you. I've already done so with everyone else here."

"Alright," she said relenting. This seemed rather important. There was no sense in being reckless.

"And could you please, just for this night. Stay here while I run some tests?"

"Alright," she repeated wearily. "Just for this night."

Chi-Chi followed Gohan down into his lair. As she did so, she couldn't shake the foreboding fear building in her heart. If she was looking for something to go wrong, if she thought things were working out too perfectly, this news more than balanced things out again.


	11. One of Those Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auden tries to get to the bottom of Chi-Chi's sudden departure.

Auden awoke to the sound of Aster's high-pitched voice yelling his name like a broken record. He wished he could throw a pillow at the one responsible for all that racket. He groaned in displeasure and turned on his back because he was a glutton for punishment and apparently wanted to hear her at a slightly higher decibel. Some uncomfortable pain he couldn't place at the moment had also played a role, but it felt very familiar. It was difficult making his eyes open—he really just wanted to fall back to sleep with Aster as the lulling background noise.

"Daddy! It's almost noon time—you're already late!"

That got a rise out of him, enough of a jolt of energy to properly wedge his eyes open to the now bright room. Aster had taken the liberty of rolling up all the blinds so that the sunrays could pierce through with shocking intensity. It merely made him squint and groan with even more displeasure. Words were not forthcoming.

"Seriously, Dad! Did that woman poison you or something? You're supposed to be up like hours ago and I've been calling your name for like forever."

"Must you be so dramatic?" he attempted to say, but it came out far too garbled for even him to discern the words.

He moved just a little in bed, shrugging his shoulders, but his muscles felt pleasantly tired and his wonderfully soft bed felt as if it was begging for him to stay just a little longer.

"Dad?! Really?! Aren't you listening to me? Are you okay? Were you drugged or something?"

"I'm fine," he said a bit clearer, surprising even himself. Though his voice was more than a little scratchy and weary.

His eyes were just then accustomed enough to the light to finally notice his erect penis on full display beneath the covers. He sighed heavily at this. That was the oddly familiar pain from earlier—that must have been wonderful sleeping on top of. He was thankful that Aster always pretended not to see that…

Also, Chi-Chi was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in the apartment either. Somehow his senses were telling him this, but he certainly couldn't figure out why that was the case. He laid one of his arms across his forehead. Today was just going to be one of those days again.

"Dad—"

"Aster, thank you—I'm awake now. You can leave, okay?" His voice sounded almost normal.

"Alright, but you better not fall back to sleep or I'll be back!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said wearily.

He hadn't bothered to actually look at her the entire time. When he heard that she'd left, he let his eyes close for a few more minutes before gathering the strength to climb out of bed. As soon as he climbed to his feet, he found himself tumbling to the ground, though his hands took most of the impact, managing not to alert Aster. His muscles were apparently more worn out than he thought. It was a pleasant soreness, but it made movement a bit more difficult as he climbed to his feet with more caution. His body refused to move much faster than a snail. Luckily, he didn't have to take too many steps before he arrived at the bathroom and then quickly closed the door.

He didn't know what to make of Chi-Chi's departure and since he was not one for jumping to conclusions, he would wait until more information was available. Of course, that didn't stop his mind from wandering…Perhaps he'd admitted too much last night. He turned on the showerhead and waited for the water to warm up a little. Once his clothes were discarded, he ventured into the soft, warm rain to relieve some stress which he supposed had the added bonus of cleaning him off. The gentle pressure of the shower against his soreness felt better than expected—if he wouldn't shrivel into a raisin, he wouldn't mind staying there for hours. He decided spur of the moment, that he might attend to his still quite excited member. He could barely remember his last clumsy attempt at doing so, but it hadn't been an unpleasant activity.

Experimentally, he let some of his fingers slide down the length of it. The anticipatory, tingling sensation he felt afterwards took him by surprise with a sharp intake of breath. And he continued to tease himself further and further as he gasped and moaned, bit down on his lower lip, and leaned heavily onto the tiled wall in front of him sincerely hoping that no one was close enough to hear. Hopefully, the sound of the shower was enough to mask his panting. Then when he was ready, he forcefully grasped onto his throbbing shaft and a lightning strike of odd pleasure spread through his body as strangled noises of desperate pain and joy escaped his mouth. That was from one grasp. His forehead leaned onto the wall, his breathing a bit more ragged than usual.

Then he heard Aster's voice barely loud enough to overcome the shower. She was calling him and it sounded urgent. Of course, everything was urgent to her when it came to him. With a frustrated sigh in mid-masturbation, he turned down the shower so that he could hear.

"What, Aster?" he shouted loudly so that his voice would carry through the door.

"Daddy—your car's gone! I can't find your car!"

"What?" he called again wanting to make sure he'd heard right.

"Your car's gone!" she yelled louder.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know—I'll figure something out!"

"Did that woman take it!?"

"I don't know!"

He was already getting tired of yelling, but he was not about to step out of the shower at this point. To be honest, his mind was elsewhere. There were plenty of ways to get somewhere in this city—it wasn't a huge deal. He turned the shower back up again. Besides…he was busy. He grasped his rod once again with more force than last time and his panting continued, gasping and desperate as he finally slid his hand down the length deliberately slow. The feeling that emerged was near debilitating—he could barely stand anymore. He was only able to repeat the motion thrice more before he heard Aster's voice again. _Fuck, just go away!_ With another frustrated sigh, he twisted the knob back to turn down the sweet, warm shower.

"What now, Aster!"

"Are you okay in there, Dad!"

"Yeah, fine!" Now he was embarrassed.

"You're not crying, are you?"

"I said I'm fine!" he bit out trying unsuccessfully to hide his frustration.

"I'm sorry that woman left you, but it's probably for the best!"

"Aster—

"I'll stay here with you today, okay! I'll make breakfast!"

"Aster, please! Let me shower in peace!

He didn't care to hear what she said next as he turned the shower back on again. The mood was thoroughly ruined by now and his penis was too soft now to do anything with. It was more stress inducing than stress relieving. There would be other times, he supposed. That didn't change the fact that he now wanted to pound something into oblivion. He had to resist the urge to cause some property damage to the nearby wall. He wasn't sure whether he'd do more damage to himself or not.

In a less than enthused way, he washed himself, stepped out of the shower and went through several steps at the sink to groom his face. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he could already smell breakfast being cooked. Clearly Aster was having a field day in the kitchen. It wasn't something she did often, but perhaps she was feeling motivated today. Once his clothes were changed, he pulled out his phone to quickly request a cab to come pick him up from his home to work—it would be arriving in a few minutes. With that dilemma dealt with, he finally stepped out into the living room where he was met with a smiling Aster.

"Daddy, I made breakfast!"

"Thanks," he said simply. "I'm surprised you're still here though. I thought for sure you'd be out there with your friend."

"No," she said with a frown, "I'm not always hanging out with him."

It was already embarrassingly late, and he hadn't been this late to work in ages. He certainly didn't have enough time to eat a proper breakfast especially not in the five minutes he had left before his ride arrived. "Hey, I have to go, but I appreciate the thought for making breakfast."

"You're just going to leave!?" she asked in a pouty voice.

"I have to go," he said with finality in his tone.

"W-Wait," Aster said as if she was surprised to see him leave so promptly.

"Yes?" Auden asked trying to move the conversation along. She looked worried as well.

"A-Aren't you worried about your car? What if she really stole it? Shouldn't we be calling the police."

"Calling the police?" Auden asked, "You act as if someone was murdered. It's a car. Anyways, I don't see the need to start stressing out. I can easily track the whereabouts of my car. Depending on its location, there may not be anything to worry about. Either way, I can have it towed."

She actually looked even more frustrated if that was even possible—and that was more concerning than anything else. "B-But what about that woman?! You can't still trust her? She's probably—

"Let's not lose ourselves in unsubstantiated claims, shall we? I'm sure she'll call me or return. One of those. For someone who I trust, it would be silly to jump to thinking there's some foul play at work. Now, please, Aster—I appreciate your concern, but as of yet, I'm not worried and you shouldn't waste your energy being worried either. Maybe you can call your boyfriend over to help you with your breakfast. It would be a shame if all that food went to waste," he said as he walked over to the door. His poor muscles were beginning to scream at him for standing still for so long. He already couldn't wait to be done with this day, so that he could have another excuse to crawl back into bed.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Aster exclaimed clearly embarrassed.

Auden grinned at this, but he was facing the front door so she didn't see. "Right."

"I'm serious! We're just friends!"

"Just friends who hang out almost every day," he said teasing. He was enjoying this far too much.

"Oh my gawd, Dad—are you just going to keep saying that until I explode?"

"Would 'friendboy' be more appropriate?" Auden asked unable to keep the amusement from his voice.

Auden waited for another explosion of anger, but she'd grown quiet. He looked back at her curiously. She was looking to the ground as if deep in thought.

"Dad, there's something else I wanted to ask you. Did you really threaten to ruin his life if he didn't keep texting you back yesterday?"

"So he told you," he said unperturbed. "It was an empty threat. Useful nonetheless."

"He got really scared when you suddenly stopped responding—he was worried he did something wrong. I told him that I would ask you. I also told him that you would never threaten anyone like that."

"Looks like you thought wrong," he said looking at her fully. "For a while, I was overly worried about you, but that's no longer the case. You don't have to worry. Tell him that I apologize for any undue stress. I'll tell him myself later on. But, Aster, if he ever hurts or disrespects you, know that you can always come to me and I'll make sure it never happens again."

"Dad," she said slowly as if processing a lot of things at once. "Th-Thank you. Just—Thank you. I never thought of you having my back. It always seemed like the other way around. But you don't have anything to worry about. Jensen is nice. He'd never hurt me. You've met him, right? What do you think of him?"

"He's interesting," Auden said thoughtfully even though he knew he was being vague. "Be careful dealing with the Briefs. The world is already chaotic enough without bringing them into the mix."

"Yeah, I get it. You don't like them. But you never go into details as to why."

"I want you to come to your own conclusions. I would hate for my experiences to color your own. I know that I'm already extremely biased. As far as Jensen goes, he doesn't seem like the worst person to spend your time with."

"That's really relieving to hear from you, Dad. I was worried that—Well, it's nice to have your approval. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see you later," he said as he turned the knob on the front door to open it.

"Have a good day, Dad!" she called after him, "And don't stress. I'm sure it'll all work out!"

He closed the door deciding that she was probably being rhetorical at the moment. He could already see the car matching the description of the one specified on his phone pulling into the parking lot. Trying not to stress out while also being reminded of it was often self-defeating. He'd say he was handling the situation decently so long as his mind didn't dwell on the stressors and that would be very difficult to do.

Auden climbed down the stairs to meet the driver as the man drove slowly trying to figure out the apartment numbers.

"David?" Auden said when the driver rolled down his window to speak to him.

"Yep, that's me. Auden Tyga?"

"Correct."

With this, Auden climbed into the backseat of the car and settled down for a moderately long drive. The inside of the car was immaculate. There was the lingering scent of new car in the air mixed with the rather strong cologne the driver wore. The beige leather upholstery was completely unblemished with no signs of heavy use. Clearly, the man was not a smoker.

"So how's your morning been so far?" David asked pleasantly.

Auden sighed at this, not in the mood for small talk. "Not so great, but I'm sure it'll get better."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. You want to talk about it? I'm a really great listener. At least, that what a lot of people tell me," he said affably.

David seemed somewhat genuine but talking to a complete stranger was the last thing he wanted to do. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather have some peace and quiet for now."

"Of course, of course, man. No problem!"

Thankfully, the man was accommodating enough to then cease any attempts at conversation, though Auden felt a little bad doing that to someone who clearly thrived on that sort of thing. His eyes turned to the swiftly passing world outside. Anxiety and stress were topics that were most often brought up in his therapy sessions. They'd discussed plenty of ways to combat it and Auden would ponder on these things a great deal, utilizing these skills at work. One of the main points he took away from these discussions was the importance of focusing on the solution rather than the problem itself. It was easier said than done, but he'd been practicing this advice for some time now even if he still failed at it every now and then depending on how severe the stressor happened to be. His car was missing. Focus on how to mitigate the inconvenience. Chi-Chi left without giving him any warning. He knew places she frequented and her house phone number. There was a high likelihood that he would eventually get to the bottom of her strange behavior. Relationships required patience and understanding.

His therapist would always highlight the importance of information gathering. It worked in a scientific setting, it also worked in day-to-day issues. Making sure to have both adequate and accurate information helped avoid unnecessary energy being spent on things that ultimately didn't matter or didn't happen in the first place. This could be as simple as waiting to talk directly to the person rather than drawing conclusions from third-party sources or worse misinterpreting the evidence already there. Auden had gone over countless hypothetical situations with his therapist and had discussed a plethora of good ways to deal with problems that were likely to crop up in life.

Using the tools that he'd been given through repeated and long sessions with his therapist, he knew of a few ways to successfully navigate this current set of issues without falling into old habits that would get him nowhere at best or set him back severely at worst. Having his medication reduced significantly was a double-edged sword. While his thoughts were much clearer, he also had to take a more active role in his decisions as he was now more susceptible to spiraling out of control without anything being able to reel him back in. It was a somewhat scary realization, but he felt ready for the challenge.

All of this was probably unintentional on Chi-Chi's part. After all, he hadn't told Chi-Chi everything about himself or his mental state and long-term uphill battle he'd had with maintaining something somewhat normal. He was sure she suspected, but she certainly didn't know. He planned on indulging her more, but he didn't want to cause her to worry over him or her to view him as some problem to fix. He wanted her to feel free to express herself uninhibited frpm trying to accommodate him. To be honest, any inconvenience he experienced became less troubling if he knew Chi-Chi was the cause of it. Was that a dangerous sentiment? He couldn't be sure, but he would try his hardest to meet any challenges head-on. There was more motivation now to do so. A lot of it was simply to prove to himself that he could, but it was also so that he could experience Chi-Chi at the most intimate and authentic level possible. He closed his eyes at the mere thought of that. How lovely that would feel the moment she decided to share herself fully with him. She was still so guarded, but there were little cracks in her exterior and she was learning to trust him more and more. Any chance he got, he encouraged her to speak her mind. Did she realize how much he adored her when she did such things? She'd already snatched his phone out his very hands twice now, making his heart skip a beat each time. Though he'd be upset in the moment because it was so jarring, he secretly enjoyed her boldness.

He made it to work in record time considering. He was still quite late, but, in reality, he didn't really have a set schedule. He'd set one for himself and others were used to him adhering to it. Strictly speaking, he wasn't late, but he would have a lot of concerned employees to deal with and he'd already thought of some clever responses for these inevitable questions.

* * *

Aster found herself staring at the door through which her father had just left. He was different. He was stronger. She wasn't altogether satisfied with his response to the fact that Chi-Chi had stolen his car. She'd joyously awoken her obviously exhausted dad to declare the great news that he can finally get rid of Chi-Chi and move on with his life. It wasn't too late into his association with that woman for a sudden split to not set her dad back too much. They were at the precipice, however, of their relationship carrying on too long for her dad to properly tolerate breaking up. Judging from how unworried and unstressed he was despite all the obvious signs that he should move on, he was going to actively try to maintain his relationship with her—and that drove Aster crazy. It was as if he wanted to end up back in the psyche ward nonresponsive. It was as if he _wanted_ her to suffer. That therapist of his was probably giving him false hope again and telling him to take more and more chances.

At the very least, she could take heart in the fact that his threats to Jensen were just bluffs. Of course they were! Though in the moment, when Jensen was the most shaken she'd ever seen him before and despite the fact that she kept reassuring him that her dad would never intentionally hurt someone, in the back of her mind she wondered if there actually was cause for alarm. Jensen was so good at reading people that she trusted his opinion more than anyone else. He'd also been right about her dad on one point—he was willing to go out of his way to protect her. He'd never directly expressed such sentiments to her, but today she'd heard him confirm what Jensen already knew. How could she be so blind to it? In the same way that she would protect him, he would protect her. Now she wondered just how much he'd helped her without drawing attention to the fact that he was. She'd been bullied quite a bit in school, but once she came to her dad about it, the bullying seemed to have come to a disconcerting stop. The main instigators eventually disappeared from her orbit—some simply ignoring her, some conveniently moving away. Surely her dad didn't have anything to do with that? Surely. Any complaint that she had, come to think of it, would eventually and abruptly be something she would no longer complain about later on. Was that her dad's doing or was she looking too far into things?

Aster eventually walked back into the kitchen to salvage all the food she'd made. She supposed it would be a good idea to follow her father's advice. Besides, he still had to let Jensen know that he was fine and her dad was just being overprotective. It wasn't a word she would usually use to describe her dad, but it seemed to fit in this case. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly told her concerned friend that the coast was clear and breakfast was waiting for him—that was enough to grab his attention.

Per usual whenever she called him, he was at her door knocking within a few minutes as if he was always a few moments away. She knew it was really because he could fly and get to places quickly. He'd flown her to enough places now for her initial surprise to have long subsided.

"See? I told you my dad wasn't that crazy," Aster said upon opening the door.

"Speak for yourself. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not do anymore mental tricks on him—for my health," he said as he closed the door and stepped further in.

"Aaaah, so you can't do anything about Chi-Chi?"

"No—and that's the end of it. Just leave it alone. I personally don't see any issues other than you being weird about your dad seeing people."

"I resent that!"

He was already making his way into the kitchen likely following the smell of hot food. She hadn't known it until now, but she liked the idea of Jensen partaking in food that she'd made herself. It was her creation and he was appreciating it. He knew where the plates were and made one for herself. And she made one too since she hadn't actually had the time to eat with her father rushing out the house so abruptly. She hadn't done her hair up yet, so her long, thick violet locks still reached down past her shoulder blades. She almost always wore her hair in pigtails with split bangs in the front or no bangs at all if she really wanted to get her hair out of the way. Like her father had complained about his own hair in the past, it took quite some time for her to dry her hair whenever she washed it. She wondered if it was time for her to get a trim. Now it was just _her_ hair clogging up the drains these days.

"I wanna' go to the arcade," Aster said after demolishing a good portion of her plate.

"Sounds like a plan—although you're dreaming if you think you can beat me at DDR," he said with a grin.

Anytime they went to the arcade in the mall, they would inevitably end up at that particular retro-game and hog it for hours. Aster only wished they'd update the music because they'd been through the playlist a few times over by now. Jensen was so light on his feet that she knew it was impossible to actually beat him at that game. She'd been the one to introduce him to it. On that day, it was the first and only time she won against him. After he caught his stride on the next try, her eternal losing streak began. He'd only improved since then. Though she'd watched plenty of bigshot fanatics of the game play on the weekends impressing the onlookers, their movements were robotic compared to Jensen's natural smoothness. She'd always want him to show off when there was a crowd, but he wasn't into having people gawking at his display and would make a hasty escape if he noticed too many watching. It was just as well. Maybe all that attention wasn't what it was cracked up to be.

Aster watched him carefully and methodically make his way through his food not dissimilar to the way her father would deal with a plate full of food. Once upon a time, she thought only someone as odd as her father would do such a thing. She found herself breaking into a smile despite herself which only received a raised eyebrow from him.

"Nevermind," she said dismissively. "I'm gonna' go and get ready, alright?"

"'Kay," he replied though still with some confusion on his face—he just as quickly returned to his food.

With the prospects of vigorous activities on the horizon, she decided against the bangs today. She washed herself thoroughly, brushing her teeth into oblivion. Perhaps she was feeling a bit giddier today. It would just be her hanging out with Jensen as usual, but today felt special. Maybe it was because today would be the day she'd finally steal a kiss from him—something they'd been avoiding for quite some time. They were just friends after all. Friends who knew quite a bit about each other. Friends who found the most comfort hanging out with each other than anyone else.

By the time she made it back out to the front, he was just finishing his plate. He might have gone for seconds. He smiled briefly when she returned and she did the same. She wore jean capris and a blue striped camisole.

"So, how was it back at home?" Aster asked sitting back at the dining room table. She supposed it wasn't the best thing to bring up, but Jensen had no one else to talk to about things like that and she suspected that he got some relief from opening up to her.

"I was there for a little while just to make sure the kids were safe."

Aster couldn't help but smile at the way he referred to them as kids in the same way an adult would.

"What?" he said noticing her change of expression.

She decided she wouldn't keep him in the dark this time. " 'the kids'?"

"Yeah, the kids or babies. I wanted to make sure Bra wasn't up to her shenanigans again. I'm always thinking about them. I can't believe they're actually fine having her around them. They're totally defenseless."

"It's not just Bra watching them," Aster reminded him.

"Bra in close vicinity to them is enough. I bet we could do a better job raising them."

"Us?" she said laughing. "I can't imagine being a Mom." But the idea of Jensen being at her side...Not to mention how obvious it was that he adored Machi. He knew quite a bit about taking care of them and sometimes even be in charge of watching them for days at a time when no one else was available.

"I can," Jensen said at once. "We could have some capsule house in the middle of nowhere with two rowdy children around—a real family without having to deal with obnoxious people all the time."

"Jensen! Where is all this coming from?" she said a bit too loudly and she was now reddening picturing all this with a guy she had yet to kiss. "Aren't we just...aren't we just..."

"Oh, sorry," he said looking away somewhat embarrassed, "Sometimes I get ahead of myself. The point is, we could do a better job, right?"

"I-I guess. But, I'm sure there'll be fine. We're not going to actually kidnap your own half-brother and sister in the middle of the night."

"You've asked me to do crazier things for worse reasons."

"Well, you agreed to it," she reminded him haughtily.

"Getting me to trick the bank teller into giving us a thousand dollars—"

"Shut-up."

"Or getting that pyro guy to set off some fireworks for us at the lake—"

"Shut-up!"

"It's okay," he said in calming tones, "I enjoyed myself. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I agreed to it, like you said. I'm just saying, whisking away kids who could be in mortal danger, isn't the worst thing we've done."

"You're really thinking about doing it, aren't you?" Aster said only lukewarm about the whole thing.

"If I had a death wish. Grandpa would kill me. Instantly."

"Well then...let's just scrap the whole plan."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't help thinking about it. Anyways, I couldn't stay the whole time. Bra was there and she was constantly trying to talk to me. I just couldn't do it. Maybe that makes me a terrible person, but I couldn't. Every time I look at her..." His eyebrows furrowed at the thought. She could tell that he was passionately angry at her. Spending anytime near her made it worse. Bra exiling herself had been the perfect situation for them—now he could barely contain himself whenever he went home. "I just flew around trying to clear my head. I slept somewhere outside faraway—"

"Jensen, you could have just stayed here."

"I didn't want to be a bother. It was really late."

"You're never a bother, okay? I thought you knew. My place is fully open to you. You can come whenever you want."

"Hm, your father really okay with that?"

"If he's not I'll make him see my way. He's fine with you though. I told you."

"Right. Guess I'll just have to take your word."

"It's fine. Trust me."

Jensen had finished his food, but they sat for a little while in silence. Clearly, he was deep in thought since he hadn't responded immediately. Aster believed she knew what was going through his mind. "What would you do to her," she asked quietly. Aster was sure he knew which 'her' she was referring to. "If you didn't have to worry about consequences, if you could put your morals aside for just a few moments, what would you do without even thinking about it?"

He looked at her surprised, but then he considered his response. "I would kill her the same way she did Dad, painfully and slowly, toying with her emotions all the while until she eventually lost grasp on her own sanity and I would give her something to ease the pain. I would give her too much of it. I would hide her body letting it rot just a little and then leave it where her loved ones would eventually find her disfigured and beyond help and let them suffer not knowing why she ended up that way, ever wondering if they could have done more to save her."

Aster listened as his tone became darker and darker. It was better that he said those things out loud rather than keeping them to himself to fester and grow. Besides, she liked this side of him as well reckless and brutal hidden behind all his manners and effeminate tendencies. "Wouldn't it be nice to make them actually understand why you hate her so much in a way they couldn't possibly ignore?"

"And she'd finally be out of the equation as well. Two birds with one stone."

"Even better," she agreed.

But then his expression became weary. "I'm sorry," he said letting a hand run down his face, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry...I really shouldn't have said that—"

"It's fine," she said gently as she climbed out of her chair. She made her way over to him. "It's fine."

She wrapped her arms around him and he reciprocated, turned now in the seat. He always smelled of lilacs—a soft and sweet fragrance she simply couldn't get enough of...so she held him tighter. It was he who pulled away first.

"C'mon," he began, his dark eyes kind and pensive, "let's go before we spend all day doing this."

Aster giggled. " 'Kay. Are we flying there?"

"We're flying there," he confirmed.

* * *

Time flew by while they were at the arcade. Jensen could tell that Aster had the most fun here, completely in her element. She knew more about video games and the arcade than he could ever hope to learn and she often easily destroyed him at most of the machines available—though, at the very least, he had her at the basketball shooting. Her aiming was atrocious. When it came to aiming a gun at a screen however, she was a professional. They went around to every activity imaginable at the arcade and then went back around multiple times—he was glad school wasn't in session. Spending more time with Aster was always a pleasure. To hear her laugh raucously at his clumsy jokes or giggle when she was trying to be cute, to feel utterly accepted by her, or to feel her warm touch whenever she felt like grabbing his arm or shoulder or demanding a hug...that was the best way to spend his time. It was the only way he wanted to spend his time. Doubly so in the absence of his father in which his thoughts would always turn back to. She wasn't annoyed when he brought him up too much or that his moods would switch rapidly between depressed and happy. She wasn't annoyed when he would saddle her with his crazy thoughts as if she was his own personal diary. She seemed to welcome them.

Though they'd talked about DDR earlier, by the time they got around to it near the end of their visit, there were already people there—college-aged youths hogging the console and actually playing it quite well.

"You wanna' show them up?" Aster asked.

"Not really," he said wearily, "Think I've had enough games for one day."

"Knew you'd say that. And there's no such thing as too much games!"

"Haven't you had your fill of kicking my butt already for one day?"

"I mean, no, but I guess I could use some fresh air."

Sometimes it could be difficult getting her to leave her most favorite place. Not that he couldn't also do another round of the newest Street Fighter, but doing the same thing for too long in one sitting wasn't exactly appealing. Besides, he could already feel his mood darkening. He needed a change of scenery. Maybe she could sense this because she didn't give him as much of a hard time as usual. They had to walk by quite a few crowds of people to make it outside again and he made his way to an area near the dumpster where it was quieter. He took a deep breath as his eyes looked up to the darkening skies. When he glanced over at her, he noticed she wore a strange expression—it wasn't quite pensive but something else similar. She grinned and shook her head when she saw him looking.

"Is this really okay—what we're doing?" Jensen asked after a while.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean age-wise. Is this really okay?"

"You wait until now to ask that? You told me you don't have an age. And from where I stand, I'm inclined to believe you."

"Well, at first I was told to lie about it so people wouldn't think I'm weird."

"Yeah, you told me about that."

"I go to school, but I don't feel like I fit in. Not in some edgy, everyone else is stupid kind of way. But the way that the other kids think. I feel out of place. Like some high school student who failed over and over, forced to then take remedial classes with kids way younger. It's not that I have to dumb down how I speak, but I have to think in a different way...a less complex way to seem more childlike in their presence. Otherwise, it gets a little awkward."

"I remember doing the same thing. Well, when I was bored and knew I could pass as a child between middle and high school, I just attended to have some fun and see if anything had changed. It hadn't. Different lingo perhaps, but it hadn't changed. I didn't even stay the whole time. Well, officially, I attended because my therapist thought it was the best treatment for me at the time. It was a weird time. The point being, kids really do think differently from adults—they're in a different stage of development. I've never felt that way with you before."

"At least I'm not the only one thinking that. I've never felt that way around you as well."

"It's your eyes."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

She expounded. "I can tell you have a deep understanding of people and why they are the way they are. I guess it helps that you can read people's mind whenever you want. Still, I really value your judgement when it comes to others."

"I've experienced many people's lives before—their revelations, their information in all its totality. Sometimes I feel like I've already lived a lifetime, but everyone tells me there's still much more to learn. Who knows? Only time would tell."

Aster had moved to stand in front of him as he spoke and she gazed at him intently. Maybe too intently especially as she stepped a few inches closer to him—he could practically feel her breathing. In that moment, he knew what she wanted from him but he chickened out at the last moment. He turned to look elsewhere pretending to be more interested in the sky and stepped away so that he could have a better view. It would have been so easy to simply go the rest of the way, accept her invitation, but something stopped him.

"Let's walk," Aster suggested cheerfully from behind him.

"Sure, okay," Jensen replied weary by her seemingly unaffected mood.

Aster chose a particular direction that would be leading them further behind the main entrance of the mall. They used the sidewalks that wrapped around the colossal building next to the extensive parking lots. For a while there was little discussion between the two other than Aster wondering about the time, but then answering it on her own as she glanced at her cellphone. It was a leisurely pace with neither wanting to move any faster.

There was a little trail they'd found some time ago that led to a manmade pond that could be seen on the interstate. It was a quiet place that Jensen had yet to see much traffic in likely because it was so far away from where a car could park and because most people driving to a mall want to shop rather than sit around on a bench in a wooded area. The pond could be seen right under the overpass. The sound of swooshing cars and the smell of hot cement permeated the air. It was perfect.

"I was thinking about going through with the full treatment," Aster said finally breaking the silence.

"To reverse the mutation?"

She nodded slowly, "So that I won't look like a child anymore. So I can finally go through puberty and all the stuff girls are supposed to go through to become a woman."

"That's a big decision," he said watching her carefully. "You told me you never wanted to do it because you were afraid it wouldn't turn out well for you."

"I did. I've read all the horror stories. All the irreversible deformities that could occur, the risk of a complete organ shut-down—all those things. But I thought about it a lot and I want to do it now."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because..." she began slowly and then stopped in her tracks causing him to do so as well, "I want to grow up with you. I want to age and grow right alongside you. I don't want to be left in this child body while you continue to grow up. I mean, what kind of relationship would that be? That would be too weird even for us."

"It's already plenty weird now and to be honest, I don't really know how or when I would develop."

"I don't care. I just want to make this work and I never thought I'd say that to anybody, but here I am."

They were once again standing before one another. He could see her gaze deepening now, her face pulling closer to his. He wasn't altogether sure if this was right or wrong, but in that moment, he could no longer resist kissing her. He'd never kissed anyone before like this, but he caught on quickly to how it worked. With eyes closed, he felt her lips pressed against his and he followed her movements, tasting her in an unhurried fashion, strange and salty, foreign and beautiful.

"Hey," Aster said huskily as she pulled away. "Race you to the pond."

"Wha—"

He could scarcely reply before he was running after her down the dirt path. She'd gotten a head start so it was difficult to keep up, not to mention that he'd probably just let her win this time. As the clearing came into view, a flock of idling pigeons squawked in the distance. Their eventual intrusion of stomping feet caused many of them to take flight. She laughed at their antics reaching the shoreline, but it was cut short by two riled older women who'd likely been feeding the pigeons. Jensen didn't notice them until that moment.

"Damn kids! Look what you did! Where are your parents?" one of them yelled standing up angrily.

Aster gasped at their outburst. By then, Jensen had made it to her and stood now in front of her between her and the approaching old women. He immediately sensed that there was something wrong with the situation.

"We're really sorry," Jensen began, "I'm sure they'll come back soon if you leave more food."

"That's not the point," the woman snapped.

"C'mon, Jensen, let's go," she said tugging at his arm now.

"You kids—always going around, disturbing the peace without a care in the world," the other women began spewing, "Someone oughta' teach ya a lesson."

"That's right—I will _not_ take this level of disrespect from anyone!" Her voice had become raspier and more threatening.

A piece of metal glinted in the dying light of the sun and that was when Jensen grabbed Aster's hand and started running for his life. From behind, two shots rang out from the gun, but they'd missed they're targets it seemed.

"What the _hell_? What's wrong with them?" Aster shouted.

"I don't know," he shouted back.

It was then, that he decided that it would be a good idea to take flight, but their paths became blocked by three men in suits. Jensen didn't have a good feeling about any of this. He grabbed Aster close and shot up into the air. Suddenly, his vision was blocked by a mess of rope and he felt his body being dragged down from the air.

"Take 'em both."

"Hey, who's those crazy women over there?"

"Kill all the witnesses."

More shots rang out, but the sound was closer and Jensen could tell it was from a much bigger gun. He unleashed his ki now to break out of the ropes careful not to hurt Aster in the process who was grasping tightly onto him now. In the next second, he felt a powerful force knock him to the ground again—a shot had rang out and the backlash caught him by surprise. Still partially entrapped, he once again went to work untangling himself until he felt something warm and wet on his side.

"Aster?"

She wasn't moving, she wasn't reacting.

"Aster!"

"Grab the boy."

Hands were grappling onto his shoulders dragging him away, but he struggled in their grasp somewhat though his heart wasn't in it. He was too much in shock as his eyes became laser focused on her unmoving form. _Is she...?_ He didn't have time to process his thoughts before he was knocked out with a blunt object.

* * *

Auden grimaced as he stepped out of the building that day. He was a few hours overtime and the sun was beginning to set. His soreness hadn't gone anywhere as he'd been inundated with errands taking him to several floors that day. He'd had to reschedule other appointments for next week that occurred outside the workplace unwilling to call a ride for each instance. He wasn't nearly as efficient and it was clear his coworkers had noticed much to his to chagrin—he'd forgotten just how observant they could be. More than once, they'd suggested he go home and rest. He'd refused politely, but Auden wondered if he should have done just that. Besides, despite all the busy work he had to tend to, his mind kept returning to Chi-Chi. He had so little information about the situation that it was difficult to stop his mind from wondering and dwelling. He'd already come up with a million and one scenarios as to why she'd probably ran out and left him in utter disgust, too horrified to tell him this to his face. It would have been uncharacteristic of her, but it was much more difficult for him to come up with charitable explanations. It was difficult to even picture someone who would spend more than a day with him of their own volition without some ulterior motive. It was difficult to see why someone wouldn't simply decide to take advantage given how terrible his company was along with all that other baggage. Maybe she'd simply had enough.

He was perusing his phone now, navigating to the app that would let him know where his car was located. He'd been dreading this moment, procrastinating to the point that he decided he'd wait until after work to check, else his mind be wrapped up in its findings all day further distracting him. He knew immediately as soon as the information was revealed, that the car was back at her place. Her running away could still be a possibility along with plenty of other ones. The car had sat there for most of the day apparently. She'd driven from his apartment to her place in the dead of night rather recklessly at speeds he wouldn't even attempt. Once she reached her destination, the car had remained still. At the very least, he knew where to go next.

Instead of going home, he would follow the trail and get to the bottom of this. No matter what he found out, he was willing to face them. He would keep an open mind and wait for details before making any decisions. Michelle from the ridesharing service picked him up this time and he climbed gingerly into the back of the car.

"Oh, you can sit in the front if you want, I don't mind," the woman welcomed with a smile.

He'd already sat down and he didn't want to go through the painful process of standing up again so soon. "I'll be fine back here. This is a bit of a drive though, do you mind?"

He knew from experience that some drivers disliked trips over an hour and they couldn't see the trip until they'd actually started it. Auden knew that for the most part, these drivers got the shorter end of the stick and was deeply exploited by the company—he cut them a lot slack and left them generous tips.

"It's fine, I love long drives better than the short ones."

"Well, that's perfect."

He closed the door and she took off slightly faster than he anticipated. It was just as well. They had a long way to go. The backseat was spacious enough for him to stretch his legs. He made himself as comfortable as possible resisting the urge to just lay down on the rest of the seat beside him. Imagining doing this drive on his own right after work seemed like torture. He yawned despite himself covering his mouth politely as he did so. Michelle had on some old bluegrass tunes though it was turned down very low.

"Long day at work, huh." Her voice had a subtle hoarseness to it, something his ears found quite pleasing.

"Longer than usual," he admitted, "And somehow I barely got anything done."

"Sounds like one of those days then."

"I'd say so." He took out his phone in his usual habit. Though it probably wasn't the best idea to continue staring at bright screens right after spending most of the day doing this, it was difficult to resist temptation. "How about you? Planning to stay out much longer?"

"After you, I think I'll call it quits for today. I started out at the crack of dawn trying to get all the early birds to work or to get breakfast."

"Was it busy?"

"Somewhat. I can never tell the best place I should be. Some days are better than others. I remember I had one trip that took me way out of town and I met my quota for the day as far as money. Easiest day I've ever had. Then after the afternoon rush, it slows down a lot. If I'm in the right area..."

His eyelids were quite heavy as he attempted to follow along with whatever she was saying. Drivers loved talking about the intricacies of their job, but he'd heard similar spiels before. Even the words on the screen weren't making much sense anymore and it was giving him a headache the more he tried to focus. Finally, he set his phone on the seat and leaned his head back against the headrest. He thought he would rest his eyes for a while, but her chatty tones lulled him into sleep before he knew it.

He was drawn out of his exhaustion by Michelle as she called out his name.

"Hm—Yes?" he answered wearily.

"We're here," she said happily.

"What?" he said as he slowly became aware of the surroundings.

This was indeed Chi-Chi's place just outside the car. Time had flown by so fast!

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a long day for ya," she said with a laugh, "I was talking to myself for a while."

"Oh, sorry about that," he said out of courtesy though he wasn't exactly stoked about being jolted out of a perfectly restful nap even if hours had already gone by. After grabbing his phone, he then proceeded to climbing out of the car slowly as his strained muscles screamed at him for sitting still for too long. "Have a good evening," he managed to say before closing the door behind him.

His first few steps were pitiful and small but soon he caught his stride. He spotted his car immediately, safe and sound in the driveway. One other sporty car sat in front of it near the closed garage door.

None of it made sense. Why was she here? And why had she been here the whole day without bothering to tell him at any point? What were the chances that this didn't turn out badly for him? _Focus..._ The three steps onto the porch gave him a harder time than anticipated but he shrugged it off. Everyone always talked about how beneficial physical exertion was, but no one talked about the residual pain one would be in if their bodies weren't used to the new activity. He just wanted to relax somewhere soft and warm, but he'd be anxious until he got this entire thing sorted out.

With a sigh, he knocked on the door hoping Chi-Chi would open the door, avoiding a confrontation with...

"Auden?" Gohan said cautiously opening the door. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting anyone today."

"I wanted to speak with Chi-Chi," Auden replied neutrally.

"Oh, I'm sorry—now isn't a good time."

"Is there something wrong?"

"It's better that I keep her isolated right now."

Auden waited for him to expound, but he never did. "Might I ask why that's the case? She seemed fine yesterday."

"Trust me, Auden, it isn't a good time to be meeting face to face with her." He stood now with crossed arms. "Perhaps somewhere further down the line she can start receiving visitors."

"Is she sick?" Auden said steadily. None of this was sounding good and the more evasive Gohan was the more anxious he became. It made him want to see Chi-Chi again all the more.

"Like I said—not a good time."

Auden looked at him with a frown knowing that he had not come all this way just to be stonewalled at the door. He was currently trying to think of some polite way of telling him to get out of his way and that he was starting to piss him off. "I'm sure you could understand my concern right now—

"I think it would be best if you simply leave, if I haven't already made that abundantly clear."

"You know I can't do that," he replied stubbornly. It seemed like an obvious position in his head, but the moment he'd uttered the words, he wondered if that was so obvious to Gohan.

"I know?" Gohan said with a raised eyebrow. "The only thing I know is that my mom decided to randomly live at some strange man's house for the past few days. She doesn't do things like that, but for a brief moment she came back to her senses and decided to come back home."

"It seemed like she wanted to take a break from her usual humdrum routine," Auden offered. "Nothing strange about that."

"Without saying anything to her family?"

"I have no idea why that was the case."

"You two were just 'hanging out' the same way you were just 'hanging out' with my daughter?"

On the surface, perhaps it did look a bit weird and Auden wasn't exactly sure how to make it less so. "It was different," he said after a moment.

This clearly didn't satisfy Gohan in the least. "A man of your age and stature remaining unmarried at this late stage is concerning, but I let that slide before because I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. But what my mom did was completely out of character for her. I couldn't contact her and she deliberately made it so I couldn't. I decided that I would check into your background to make sure you were as 'harmless' as you were making yourself out to be."

Auden had no idea where this was going, but he was hoping there was still a chance he could convince him to let him enter—he wasn't sure what he would do if he couldn't see Chi-Chi...

"I really couldn't find anything about you. Other than the fact that you claimed to work at CC, I still know next to nothing. No social media, no presence at all on the internet. For someone like you who's so proficient with computers who likely spends a lot of time on them, it was strange. Clearly, you've deliberately hidden or classified or even deleted any personal information pertaining to you as if you don't exist at all."

"I haven't deleted anything—it's just a bit more difficult to find information about me. I think it's a good idea to keep such personal data away from prying eyes, don't you think? People's identities get stolen every day. If there's something you'd like to know about me, you can just ask. You'll just have to trust that I'm telling the truth."

"I understand wanting privacy, but it seems to have been taken to the extreme. Like for instance, I don't even know where you were born—there's no records even of that."

"In West Capital—I went to the same high school as Bulma. I then pursued a degree in Computer Science. Later on, Bulma hired me in her company and I've worked there for many years now just like you. Nothing mysterious there."

"I imagine you've glossed over a lot details, but I suppose it isn't my place to grill you on every single thing." Gohan looked at him a while longer and then sighed. "You really want to see her, don't you?"

"Please."

He seemed to be debating with himself and Auden had to continue battling to stay completely calm—he wasn't sure if he was entirely convincing in that department. "Fine, I'll let you see her for a few minutes—she's asleep though and she's had an ongoing fever."

"Thank you. I had no idea things were so bad."

Gohan gestured for him to follow and Auden did so without hesitation. They moved slowly down the halls. "You remember what I told you about what I was studying in my lab, right?"

"The secret pandemic that has already affected the entire populace—yeah, I remember. I wish that I didn't."

"I recently found some concerning results in my tests so I decided it would be a good idea to take a blood sample from her. That permanent mutation I was telling you about—it begins to affect other things in the body like behavior and strength in more obvious ways after a certain period of incubation. I can't pin down what that incubation period is as it seems to vary from subject to subject, but for Mom it has begun affecting her just like it has in other subjects so far—it starts with an innocuous headache that worsens over time which can sometimes trigger a fever and then..."

Auden grew cold when he didn't continue. "And then?"

"A change in behavior," he said in quiet tones.

"Something tells me that you're glossing over the details a bit."

"I'll let you see her for a few moments. It's best that we all begin to isolate ourselves from those exhibiting symptoms. Not that it's contagious—it's too late for that sort of thing. It's simply safer."

Auden wasn't sure how radical this change he was talking about would be. Perhaps having Gohan nearby was a good thing. They finally arrived at a closed door that was likely her first floor bedroom—at least she didn't have to climb stairs all the time. Gohan opened the door cautiously and peeked in. Satisfied, he opened it wider for Auden.

The temperature was quite a bit cooler in the room and a fan was running as well near the head of her queen-sized bed. She laid atop the covers fully clothed in her nightgown. Her face was flushed and she looked uncomfortable even with her eyes being closed. It was a lot to take in. It made him sick to his stomach. There was likely nothing he could do to ease her suffering. He approached the bed, but remained a few inches away.

"Auden?"

It took him a moment to realize that it had come from her—she'd uttered his name so quietly the he almost missed it. Perhaps she was simply talking in her sleep.

"You're here, aren't you?"

This time she spoke a bit louder and slowly she opened her eyes trying to seek him out.

"Yeah, that's right, it's me. I was worried about you—

"I'm sorry."

"Please, you don't need to apologize."

She decided to start sitting up and this was when he heard more footsteps from behind—Gohan moving in a bit closer as if in caution. Auden glanced in his direction but he didn't know what to make of his expression. At the very least, he wasn't telling him to leave yet.

She wore an amused grin. "I'm the one who stole your car because I was scared, you know."

"Maybe I said too much last night—

"No," she said shaking her head slowly. "I was too afraid to say it back, but I love you too. Auden, I love you—that's what I meant to say."

On some random day of the week that hadn't been all that special and while he was tired and sore all over, she had confessed to him. It was a thing he hadn't expected in a million years and he didn't have anything in mind to say back other than to stand there like an utter fool, speechless. It felt like they were the only two people in the room, nevermind if somewhere far in the back of his mind he acknowledged Gohan's presence. He stepped a little closer to her.

"Chi-Chi..." His heart was about to burst out of his chest.

She held a quieting hand up to stop whatever garbled response he could muster at the moment. "You make me feel young again," she started assuredly. Her ebony eyes drew him in effortlessly. "You make me feel like I can do anything. I know that I have you wrapped around my finger and I've never had that before with anyone. I know that I can make you do anything I ask. I know that I can fully take advantage of your kindness and endless patience."

He probably should have been alarmed, but he wasn't because he loved her and against all odds, she had reciprocated. She could have said anything and it likely would not have bothered him in the least. "Is there something you want right now?" he asked completely in a daze at this point. It was something he would say to anyone he cared about who was under the weather and couldn't do too much on their own—it was also full of double meaning.

She moved to the side of the bed and placed her feet on the ground. "I want you to fight me."

"What?"

He didn't have time to react before she lunged at him with surprising speed pummeling him onto the ground. He felt compelled to defend himself after two hefty punches to his gut. He tried to grapple her off of him, but she was too strong and relentless.

"Ugh! Fight me! Show me that glorious power of yours that you keep hidden away. Show me!"

He didn't manage to say anything back aside from a few panicked grunts as all his focus was on trying to push her off. The more he wrestled her, the more incited she became. Then suddenly she disappeared from his view as she was thrown to the ground. It was Gohan successfully tackling her to the ground, but something about his presence didn't sit well with him—he didn't like how he was handling her or how she was screaming hysterically.

"Get off of her!" he cried out barreling into Gohan to move him out the way.

And just like that the fight began as she quickly leaped to her feet and dished several hits out on him—she moved too fast for retaliation and he could feel his own ki itching to burst free in all the excitement. As another fist connected with his body, he felt his ki ripping out of him and it burned sweetly now through his veins. He cried out as a torrent of emotions washed over him. He could hear Chi-Chi's encouraging cries along with him—she too unleashed her ki and for a few moments, they both fought in earnest.

Even so, it was clear who had the advantage as he found himself getting pummeled over and over again and eventually thrown through several walls of the house only to end up in the backyard. At least there was more space there. He climbed back to his feet, eyes alight with excitement seeking her out. For reasons he couldn't verbalize he felt an incoming fist approaching from behind and he easily evaded it. He whipped around and landed a fist directly in her side—this only increased her intensity. Soon they were trading blows. Though Auden faltered and shouted at every painfully connected blow, despite the tears in his eyes, he still felt exhilaration from his own fiery ki that longed to be used to its fullest.

When he couldn't bear to take another hit and he felt his consciousness waning, a ki blast originating from an unknown source knocked him out completely before he could register what was happening.


	12. Calm & Centered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pandemic begins to effect the world. Auden investigates the strange circumstances surrounding his daughter. Chi-Chi deals with the effects of the disease.

Vegeta was worried. After feeling a sharp spike of ki somewhere far off and receiving a call from Gohan only minutes later that he needed him to take care of Auden because apparently it was dangerous for him and Chi-Chi to be in the same room, he'd brought over a thoroughly roughed up Auden to one of the rooms in the medical ward on Bulma's property, bandaging the obvious injuries. And then Vegeta had a nice long conversation with the scientist grilling him for details as to what had happened. Near the end when he was satisfied, Gohan insisted that he make sure that Auden was subdued or at least that it wouldn't be too easy for him to escape. The same thing that had happened to Chi-Chi could happen to him—every single human was a ticking time bomb and as of now, Gohan was trying to figure out a way to best handle the situation.

Auden was handcuffed in that room. Bra and Pan along with Machi and Jr. had gone out on a short road trip yesterday. They weren't safe. Anything could happen. The only thing that stopped him from dragging them back home was the fact that Pan was there and would be able to handle things should the situation take a turn.

Bulma was almost done with her little project of finding New Namek and they were days away from being fully prepped for sending someone out there to finally make the wish. She was so preoccupied that she had no idea what was even happening right now.

It was the dead of night and Vegeta was pacing, unsure of how to proceed. His sharp ears caught on to the rustling of covers and the clinking metal from the handcuffs—the ones which drew out energy from its wearer, perfect for someone like Auden with explosive ki who probably didn't have a whole lot of control over it. He opened the door quietly and peered inside. Auden wasn't awake, instead he seemed to be responding to some invisible stimuli—a nightmare. It reminded him of the first time he'd been brought there, only this time, rising ki wasn't associated. The more that he tugged on the cuffs, the more agitated he became—Vegeta wondered if he should release him from them. Moaning uncomfortably minutes before, he was much more vocal now repeatedly telling his unseen assailant to "Get off" at first demanding and then more pleadingly and now more desperately all the while pulling harder and harder at the cuffs. Vegeta couldn't stand to watch much more of the performance so he took it upon himself to jostle him to wakefulness, but that didn't have much effect.

"Auden!" Vegeta called out. "Wake up, it's not real." While he had to repeat himself a couple more times, it seemed to be working.

A mixture of emotions adorned his face as he finally awakened, he very briefly acknowledged Vegeta's presence as their eyes met, but he seemed more concerned with the cuffs which had each arm attached to the bedpost behind him.

"Vegeta? Where the hell am I? And what happened to Chi-Chi?"

"She's back with Gohan. You were brought here to Bulma's place." This seemed to vaguely satisfy him.

"Can you take these off already or am I prisoner here?"

"As long as you don't do anything stupid," Vegeta said as he fished a tiny key out of his pocket and undid the lock.

Auden had been struggling against them in his sleep and they had long since left angry red bruise marks around his wrists. He was able to sit up though with struggle since it seemed putting any pressure on his wrists was painful. He placed them closely to his chest while pulling up his legs, burying his face in his knees.

Vegeta decided that it was a good idea to get as much information out of him as possible, if he was to have any peace of mind that night. He couldn't quite read the man and that was a recipe for disaster. He struck him as one who was highly unpredictable and that his supposed pleasant demeanor was a coping mechanism rather than an accurate representation of his personality. Perhaps in a way, not so different from Malachi.

"How are you feeling right now?" It sounded strange even uttering the words, but these days, he'd rather get straight to the point.

"Worried," he replied after a moment. "Tired..." He sat up a little straighter, his eyes turned towards the window beside him on the far wall. "Something doesn't feel right."

That immediately put Vegeta on alert. "Care to expound?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't know how to describe it. It feels like something isn't quite right. Not with me," he finally clarified as he glanced over at Vegeta, "It's something else...I can't place it."

Vegeta couldn't even begin to interpret what that meant though he did think about it for a few short seconds. "You're tired," he said after a while. "Get some sleep. We'll see how it goes tomorrow."

Auden snorted at this. "So I really am a prisoner here—not even an offer to let me go home."

"You saw what happened with Chi-Chi."

"Yeah, I guess whatever's been going around got to her."

"She was completely out of her mind and that fate awaits the rest of the humans."

"Out of her mind? I prefer to think that she knew exactly what she wanted."

"Call it what you want, but nothing good comes out of it."

Auden gave him a weary look but decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"I don't know how long this is going to be dragged out—we'll see how it is in the morning."

"Right."

He wasn't very convincing, Vegeta knew, but he was waiting for Gohan to give him any sort of update. Looking at how much they didn't know about the situation, it seemed a little preposterous to be isolating people if they didn't know when the same thing would happen to them. Not to mention, the population at large had no idea that any of this was happening and that seemed far more problematic than anything that had happened today.

Vegeta exited the room but decided against locking the door. It wasn't that serious. If things got out of hand, he'd be able to handle it. If anything, perhaps it was better for this whole fever and headache thing to take place sooner rather than later just so they could be over that hurdle. But the personality change seemed permanent. The fact that at some point, it would happen to Bulma...Gohan had better come up with a way to counteract that. Looking at how she kept in contact with Gohan, she must already know about all this. Maybe she already had a plan or maybe the plan was that Gohan would have something by now. Vegeta wasn't exactly updated on matters such as these. It often wouldn't be until something needed to be pounded in that his opinion was sought after. To be honest, it was difficult to keep up with the science and tech talk, but he supposed he was slightly above average when it came to those things.

Bulma was still awake. Her grandparents were as well probably up watching late night shows. He knew that he couldn't possibly shut his brain off and relax despite telling Auden to do just that. He predicted that it would simply be one of those nights where no one actually found any peace.

A few hours later, he checked in on Auden, but even as he approached the door, he could hear the cover rustling—classic signs of tossing and turning. Of course. He didn't seem to be having such a great night and it was making him even more restless just watching it. He could see tears in his eyes clearly uncomfortable with whatever his mind happened to be conjuring up that night. Crying in one's sleep was no small feat—it had to be from something quite intense and quite emotional, something that was indistinguishable from reality.

"Auden!" Vegeta called out again to draw him out of whatever nightmarish scenario he was perceiving. He didn't respond as easily so Vegeta finally took it upon himself to shake him roughly.

Once he was somewhat wakeful, he turned away from him and buried his face into the pillow. "What do you want?" Auden asked with little to no ceremony though his voice was a bit shaky.

That was actually a good question. What was the point of waking someone from a nightmare? It would probably happen again as soon as he left especially if it was of things that were unresolved or worse, things that were impossible to resolve or trauma that would never disappear.

"There's something wrong..." Auden began again with a muffled voice. "I just know it." He pulled his face away from the pillow to look directly at him. "You just think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"I'm the least qualified person to be making a judgement like that."

"I can't get it out of my head," he said sitting up. "Maybe if I could investigate the source..."

"What source?" Vegeta asked intrigued.

"I keep seeing a place. Something happened there."

"What are you, some kind of psychic?"

"No—I don't think. The same way I can sometimes know when someone isn't nearby even when I haven't walked around the whole place to make sure that's the case—is the same way I know something isn't right somewhere. Something happened. I just don't know what."

 _Ki sense_. "Well, we better go see if there's anything to it—just in case."

Vegeta wasn't sure how much or how little Auden knew about these things, but he wasn't about to give him a late-night crash course on sensing ki or sensing trouble. It was strange that he hadn't felt the same thing. It likely had to do with how closely connected he was to whoever was in trouble. He knew Bulma so well that he sensed intimate details about her that he'd never sensed with anyone else.

"Do you know where Jensen is?" Auden asked quietly, sitting on the side of the bed now.

"I don't know—somewhere with Aster probably. You can't get him to sit still for more than five seconds."

Auden looked at him thoughtfully. "There's a few favorite places Aster likes to go—the main one being the mall. If you're near an arcade, she'll appear eventually," he ended with subtle mirth. A full-on smile seemed out of the question.

Vegeta had only seen Auden on a few occasions, but the man seemed to wear a perpetually solemn mask as if there was never anything good to look forward to. It was a depressing thought.

"Quite a few arcades around here," Vegeta noted. "A lot of places for those two to have run off to at any given time. I haven't even seen him come home for the past few nights. Ever since Bra came back..."

"Can you blame him?" Auden said climbing to his feet.

Vegeta looked at him quizzically.

"Nevermind," he said quickly. "It probably isn't my place to say."

What? Did he know something that he didn't? Did Jensen still blame Bra for everything even after all this grieving? How could one still hold a grudge over something like this? While Vegeta was trying to piece things together, Auden was making his way to the large window. He didn't register what the man was attempting to do until he unlatched the locks. They were on the ground floor, but he'd never witnessed a human who preferred jumping out the window instead of using a door.

"So using the window as an exit is your M.O.?" Vegeta questioned as Auden lifted the window panel open.

"I mean, it's a huge window and the ground is right there. Why not?" Auden replied as if it was totally normal to think along those lines. At the very least though, it made sense.

"I'm keeping a close eye on you just in case you start exhibiting signs or any strange behaviors," Vegeta warned.

"Based on what exactly? You'd have no idea what's 'normal' for me. Maybe I climb through windows on a daily basis. Maybe I don't."

Vegeta certainly noted a grin, subtle though it was, as Auden turned and smoothly slipped through the window. The Saiyan followed in suit not the least bit put off by the activity as he'd done it plenty of times before—he made sure to close it back, knowing he'd never hear the end of it if Bulma found out that he'd left it open for all kinds of critters to make their way in. To be honest, he actually hadn't used this method of exit for years now—he was far too civilized at this point to casually do that if there was a perfectly fine door to use. Of course, if he happened to get upset, all bets were off.

"Great, I forgot how much of a maze this place is," Auden said looking around.

"It took a while, but I know this place like the back of my hand."

"A feat all on its own. Somehow I doubt even Bulma herself wouldn't get lost walking around here."

"You may be right."

Bulma had added on to the property a few times since he'd lived there. There were multiple labs, multiple recreational centers, multiple offices, and multiple everything and from time to time, Bulma would get confused as to what lab she happened to be in. In reality, there were only a few places that she frequented on the property. The other places were there for her to swing her huge imaginary cock around and brag about the sprawling manor her family owned—the maids saw more of the place than she did.

They walked at a pace a few notches above a leisurely one. Vegeta wondered if it wouldn't be more expedient just to fly to whatever place he had in mind. Then again, he wondered if he was even aware of the fact that people could fly. The night was perfect though—not too cool, not too hot, no chance of rain. It did wonders for his mounting anxiousness thinking about all the implications of the past events and the fact that he had little power to stop it. It was an uncanny feeling that he hated dwelling on. Besides, perhaps he could attempt getting to know the genius who Bulma had consulted with. It was very rare that she complimented other engineers or scientists on their skills, but she'd praised Auden with surprising ease. Maybe it was because she was already familiar with him, but then Bulma was familiar with quite a few people in her field.

"So," Vegeta began unsure of how to broach the topic he suddenly had in mind.

"So?"

"Care to indulge me on the dreams you were having tonight?"

"Um...well," Auden sputtered, "It's far too..."

"Personal?" Vegeta offered.

"Yeah, that."

"It must have had something to do with handcuffs, right?"

Auden didn't respond, but Vegeta continued after a passing moment.

"Something that happened long ago—something that had enough time to burrow and fester. Something that made you feel powerless. I know I'm getting warm."

"Vegeta," he said sharply. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You were handcuffed somewhere long ago," he continued unperturbed.

Auden sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, somewhere long ago."

"In some place other than your home."

"Amazing. I think I've found someone even worse at casual conversation than I am."

"Just tell me already since we're already on the topic," Vegeta said in irritation.

"Since we're already on the topic?" Auden repeated with clear amusement. "That's really cute."

"What did you call me?"

"Look, it's not something I talk about to people, if anyone."

"You may not know me very well, but there's nothing you could say that would surprise me. You could tell me you got away with murdering someone and you feel guilty and I wouldn't even blink an eye."

"Somehow I'm not surprised. You have a particular aura."

Vegeta waited for him to continue and then realized that he had stubbornly become quiet. "Just get on with your story already," he snapped. He wondered why he was getting so irritated at the man. It wasn't like he was being unreasonable. But he'd seen him in Bulma's lab that day and something had clearly been wrong with him. Then the rather dramatic nightmares. It was all quite disconcerting—humans didn't do things like that and it was reminding him a little too much of himself back before he'd ever set foot on Earth, back when he wasn't quite strong enough to defend himself from everyone especially not Frieza. After having Malachi pass away with his issues clearly unresolved, he had less patience in seeing other people suffering and attempting to keep it to themselves.

"How about I murdered someone and I feel really guilty about it."

"Try again, human. Where do the handcuffs come in?"

At the mention of handcuffs again, Vegeta noticed Auden's hands clenching into fists for a moment.

"Are you really not going to drop this? I told you, I don't want to talk about it," he replied in a voice that strangely belied his growing anger.

Vegeta made a disapproving sound, but he found he had nothing left to say that could convince someone to speak on something they didn't want to. "Fine."

"Chi-Chi doesn't have the greatest opinion about you."

"That woman has impossible standards. Of course, she doesn't. Anyone who willingly mates with a guy like Kakarot and doesn't end up losing their mind would probably think I'm demon spawn."

"Kakarot?"

"Goku," he said quickly.

"Oh."

"Although, I do feel for her. Kakarot hasn't been back in years. Knowing that idiot, he's probably off having fun on some other planet in some other dimension and getting stronger."

"This person continues to sound quite interesting. I'm guessing he does the same kind of training that you do."

"The same?" Vegeta spat.

"I'm sure there's plenty of variation with combat training, but the same in that he's training to improve his fighting skills."

"Kakarot has had the luxury of learning various disciplines and combining the best parts to form his own signature technique."

"I suppose that would make for a well-rounded fighter and somewhat unpredictable. I think it would be difficult incorporating so many styles into one form. It's not something that could be easily replicated. I'm assuming you've done things differently."

"It would be difficult for some layperson to follow in his footsteps. No one really has. In my opinion, it's not entirely necessary to do all that. I was taught the basics from my father and I was a pretty efficient killer, but he wasn't around to teach me much else. The rest I learned from experience. I wasn't in an environment in which I could politely ask other people to teach me their techniques—that would have been seen as weakness. I would tweak things based on what I saw others doing. During battle, I was always looking for ways to exploit hidden weaknesses—everyone has them. That's basically what it all comes down to. Learning different disciplines probably makes it a little easier to counteract a wider variety of fighters. But there isn't a 'proper' way to fight. Just from instincts alone, you can determine for yourself what would work best."

"So, if I'm hearing right, you developed your instincts through trial and error instead of learning a set amount of forms and techniques. What you do in a fight is largely determined by figuring out how best to take advantage of their weaknesses."

"An accurate summary. I'm not against learning new things—it's just not paramount."

"I think I appreciate your approach more than the other. It sounds more intuitive and the idea of learning how to fight sounds less of a monumental task and more like a game of chess."

"That would be high praise if it was coming from a person who had any inkling of what they were talking about. Judging from your pitiful display before, I doubt you've ever been in a decent fight."

"I tend to avoid conflict as much as possible. But every once in a while, I wonder what it would be like if I knew how to defend myself—if running away wasn't always the only option."

"Retreat isn't always the worst option—I can think of times that would have saved me a lot of time and effort, if I'd simply pushed my pride aside and admit when a battle was impossible. There's a balance there that I doubt I'll ever reach."

"Having a high appreciation for yourself is often a strength—I think it can allow people to do things that others are too scared to do and break new limits. But I suppose there's a balance there as well."

Vegeta had led them to the main driveway. Not knowing how far or close Auden's destination happened to be. He assumed it was far and not suitable for walking, if they wanted to make it by a certain amount of time.

"You can use one of the cars here, doesn't matter which one."

"Well, alright," he said back as if it'd just dawned on him that he'd probably need one.

There were three cars out in the driveway and a clear case full of capsules attached to the wall beside the garage door that was likely full of other choices. Auden simply chose the one closest to the exit, a yellow sporty looking car. Vegeta wasn't too keen on driving and made it a point to sit in the passenger's seat. He often flew to places, but when it came to groceries or having to interact with other humans, he didn't mind taking a car to avoid all the questions and it was far less of a hassle.

Vegeta expected Auden to be one of those safe drivers who paid special attention to all the rules of the road, but he seemed to have thrown caution to the wind. Vegeta didn't even bother looking back at the man in surprise as they ran red lights and swerved around corners as if they were in some street race. Instead, he casually leaned his head out the opened car window to feel the rushing wind in his face. If one was going to drive recklessly, now would be the best time to do it when there weren't many cars out. Bulma would be horrified.

They were soon parking in the back of the nearby mall and climbing out the vehicle.

"That how you usually drive?"

This time Vegeta knew he was grinning when he responded. "No, I just thought you'd appreciate that."

"Hmph, there's faster ways to get places, but I appreciate the thought," he ended in some amusement.

Auden was making a beeline somewhere and Vegeta easily kept up with his more rapid pace. Already, he could smell blood in the air that wasn't quite fresh. At least hours had passed since it had been exposed to the elements—it was a scent that certainly brought back memories. Vegeta also caught undernotes of gunpowder as well. Aster had certainly been here and probably was still here because her scent was so strong, but Jensen's was faint and fading. He probably wasn't here.

They were walking down a narrow dirt path that led to a pond. Near where the path widened a little, Auden paused here.

"This—something must have happened here," Auden said turning to Vegeta with a determined expression as if he was still trying to convince him.

"I believe you. Now what exactly do you think happened here?"

He didn't respond as he started searching the area walking over to the trees which had been on both sides and peering into them critically. Wordlessly, he made his way slowly around the edges. Vegeta knew exactly where he would find something, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to be the first to find it. Perhaps he'd feel more ownership and control of the situation if he was the one who found it. His nose picked up the scent of a corpse that was likely mutilated—he debated with himself whether he should stop him. Vegeta didn't know Auden all that well. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing that—he wasn't even sure if he could handle seeing his own daughter like that...

Vegeta stood with crossed arms watching him move closer and closer. It was too late to stop him. What would be the point? He would learn what happened at some point. Auden paused where he expected him too. A pile of dried leaves covered the body. He squatted down so that he could use his hands to expose what was underneath. Vegeta stepped closer to see it a little better.

Her face was unrecognizable. One of her arms was missing. Below her neck didn't quite seem human as bloody flesh was exposed and drying—intestines completely outside the body, her legs twisted in impossible directions. Vegeta wondered if Auden would be able to even recognize her as he sat there mutely staring. He got his answer soon enough, as Auden lifted the body enough to pull it onto his lap. He touched her cautiously as if it was a fragile thing that would break if he moved too fast. Vegeta could tell his hands were shaking as he did so.

It felt like hours had passed before Auden ever uttered a word. Surprisingly, no tears had been shed. One might venture to say that he was taking this quite well.

"Jensen," Auden said hoarsely, "Do you think he was here too?"

"He was here," Vegeta confirmed.

Auden seemed to take his response at face value as he nodded slowly. His eyes hadn't moved away from her. "I don't know what happened, but...I will find out. I will find out. Whoever did this won't be able to hide from me. Whoever did this will..." he said in a distant tone as if he was somewhere far away thinking of a million and one things. There was an odd cadence to his voice, not really an accent, but it was something that gave Vegeta pause and a shiver down his spine that he would never admit to anyone feeling.

Respectfully, Vegeta did not disturb him as he sat there longer. It was a lot to process and Vegeta was also looking about the scene with his eyes to see if he noticed anything else. Evidence had clearly been tampered with. There were no footsteps or signs that anyone had even walked in that area and that was obviously not the case. Someone had gone through all the trouble of making it seem like nothing had happened, but had left the body, hadn't even bothered to bury it. Perhaps they'd wanted the wildlife to consume the body. It wasn't the busiest place here and people would certainly not be looking this far into the trees. The smell might have alerted someone eventually, but then again, maybe not. Humans were great at ignoring signs of danger. Or they might have been in a rush. Maybe the "they" was just one person. Whatever the case, Jensen was missing as well. He couldn't sense him either and that was odd in itself. He was likely unconscious somewhere.

"You can do those ki blasts, can't you?" Auden said breaking the silence.

Vegeta didn't even dignify that with an answer.

"Is it strong enough to disintegrate people?"

"If I wanted to."

"Well then, please, could you take care of her body? There's nothing more to see here," he said standing up.

"Are you sure? You could be eliminating evidence."

"And who would do an adequate autopsy? I don't want to bring the authorities into this nor do I want people picking over her body."

When Vegeta glanced over at him, he knew that he was being serious. A part of him knew that Auden probably wasn't in the best condition to be making rational decisions. In fact, he might regret things later down the line. Taking someone who was so emotionally compromised at their word often didn't end well. Bulma almost always avoided involving the authorities out of practicality. She'd be all for eliminating evidence. Many of the Z-fighters had died at different points. Bringing people back to life would have had an added layer of complexity if they also had to deal with deleting any official records of death.

"Just get it over with," Auden said.

"Alright," Vegeta said after another passing moment, "But you better not be upset later. Stand back."

Auden quickly followed orders, moving a safe distance away as Vegeta started forming a concentrated ki blast on the tip of his index finger. Once it was big and powerful enough, Vegeta unleashed it onto the still form. The smoke took some time to clear revealing eventually a burnt grassy area. Auden stood there perhaps pensively, but Vegeta wasn't entirely sure. He seemed to have the blankest of stares.

"What are you gonna' do now?" Vegeta asked drawing him out of his reverie.

"I'm going home," he said looking at him directly, unafraid. "And that's all. Plan on stopping me?"

"Not yet."

Vegeta was being lenient. Sure, Gohan had told him that it was important that Auden be kept in a secure location, there really wasn't a reason do this other than Gohan being upset over him attacking his mom and leaving her in bruises. Auden was no more susceptible than any other human. Besides, from where he stood, it was self-defense. Following the logic to its conclusion, he now needed to isolate Bunny, Dr. Brief and Bulma as well as the rest of the world—looking at how the public still didn't know about any of this, that would be a tall order at best. There were simply too many unknown variables to make him feel justified in acting as jailer to someone who didn't take kindly to feeling trapped.

No further comment was made on the subject. He'd make sure he actually did the thing he was saying and then leave. Another part of him also knew that he couldn't possibly be taking this as well as he seemed at the moment. It would be irresponsible to leave someone who'd experienced such a sudden loss. Were he in his shoes, he'd want someone to stop him from doing something stupid. He didn't know him very well, in fact, he barely knew him at all, but he felt like he had to do something even if he knew he was terrible at consoling people especially someone who kept things close to the chest. Bulma was the only one who knew Auden to any significant degree and Vegeta got the impression that he actually didn't like her judging from what he'd seen the last time he'd been at their place.

He had no one to ground him. He was liable to do anything.

The reckless driving seemed to increase in intensity as Auden floored the pedal sometimes even forgetting to use the street. His full focus was on the road. To be honest, he barely acknowledged his presence at all. When he was at what Vegeta assumed was his home, he didn't bother questioning whether he wanted to join him or not—he opened the door and began making his way down a short stretch of sidewalk to the stairs that led to his apartment. Vegeta wordlessly followed since he hadn't heard any protests.

He opened the door and didn't lock it. He also continued to ignore him. Perhaps it was an invitation. Perhaps it was simply negligence. Vegeta stepped into a very hygienic apartment with a very neutral smell. No one but him had been there for some time. Everything seemed to be in place from what he could see; the dining and living room. Auden sat on the floor in the living room in front of the television fully concentrating on his phone, the bright lights illuminating his face in the dark environment. No lights had been turned on.

Vegeta only looked around for a few moments finding nothing of interest. Jensen and Aster had been here likely earlier this day as he could smell their scents faintly now. He could tell which one was Aster's room and Auden's master bedroom down the hall. Still, he'd gotten no comment from Auden. Eventually, Vegeta sat on the couch directly in front of him though a few yards away. He watched him for a while before interrupting his rapid tapping on the screen.

"Auden." He said trying to get his attention. "Auden!" he barked.

He only gradually looked up. "What?"

"You need to get some rest and some food while you're at it. When's the last time you ate anything?"

He seemed to consider his last question. "I don't know. I don't exactly care. It's not the time."

"Go make yourself something—humans don't survive long without sustenance."

He looked up again irritated. "Why do you keep referring to humans as if you're an alien from another planet?"

Vegeta could only grin at the irony. "I won't repeat myself."

"Maybe you will."

"Or I will force feed you myself."

"I'd like to see you try."

"You don't want to try me."

He'd already returned to his phone unperturbed. With a growl, Vegeta made it over to him in less than a second, yanking him from the ground, grabbing him by the nape of his shirt. Auden was already trying to pull away from him, but Vegeta's grip was iron and it was a fool's errand. Vegeta watched him struggle a bit before shaking him roughly, consciously using far less strength to do so to avoid breaking him in half.

"Let GO of me!" he shouted angrily.

Vegeta could already see the faint electricity of his ki in the air as he continued to struggle fruitlessly. He tossed him to the ground a bit harder. Perhaps a bit too hard as he was slower than expected getting up. When Auden turned to look at him now incensed, Vegeta noticed that his nose was bleeding out. _Great..._ Auden rushed at him as if to tackle him, but Vegeta easily parried his attempt, throwing him to the ground again. After the second attempt, Vegeta grabbed him to put an end to his foolishness. He was breathing a little harder and Vegeta could see some tears in his eyes.

"Seriously, let go of me!" he yelled trying to rip out of his grasp. "If you want to kill me, then get on with it already."

"I will keep doing this until you concede."

Vegeta could feel the man's ki bristling at the audacity. For some reason, it hadn't fully come forth. He'd expected that it would by now considering past experience. There was a defiant look in his eyes, something that Vegeta loved to see, something that was always a prelude to an especially challenging duel. When someone was so passionate, it became difficult to defeat them. He was human, he knew he could die easily at his hands, but his own stubbornness and pride wouldn't let him give up so easily.

He wanted to train him all the more as he possessed characteristics that he'd like to see in future protectors of Earth. Vegeta was still trying to find more humans to fulfill that role and it hadn't been going well so far. There was Malachi...He didn't want to think along those lines or else he'd make himself miserable. Auden had a lot of potential at the very least.

Vegeta tossed him to the ground again with a grin on his face. Electricity was buzzing around the man now.

"In the interest of keeping my home intact—I suppose I'll have to consider your suggestions."

"It's the dead of night. You're lacking in sustenance and rest. Once you have those things, you'll be able to make more rational decisions."

"I've already made my decisions," he said as he climbed back to his feet with some trouble. Vegeta didn't bother helping him up. "I doubt they'd change the next day."

"And what are your decisions?"

"I will find the people who did this—they can't hide from me and then I will administer an appropriate punishment."

"You'll kill them," Vegeta stated.

"I'm going to throw a sandwich together and then you are going to leave me in peace. I think you've overstayed your welcome."

Vegeta found it hilarious that this man still thought he could give him orders and that he was under some obligation to follow them. "We'll see. First make your food."

He waited in the living room as Auden made the short trek to the kitchen where he began taking a few things out of the fridge. Casually, Vegeta moved to the small dining room knowing that eventually he'd be sitting down there. As long as he came out with a plate of food, then he would be satisfied. Truly the sandwich he made was thrown together—it looked dry and unappetizing from afar. With a grimace, he made himself scarce from Auden's line of sight unwilling to exclusively watch him eat. He listened however, almost expecting more defiance on his end. It took him a few minutes of waiting to realize that he wasn't eating anymore after a while. Maybe he'd finished? Now making his way back to the dining room, he found Auden asleep, peaceful for the first time with his head taking refuge on the table. He'd only partook in a few bites of the sandwich. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Vegeta waited until it seemed as if he wouldn't wake if he moved him and carefully took him out of the chair and deposited him onto his bed. He hadn't reacted in the least and was more like deadweight as his body lay sprawled on the covers. No sooner had he turned to leave however, he heard Auden's stomach growling painfully and loud as if he hadn't eaten anything in quite some time—that probably wasn't far from the truth. He groaned in displeasure, turned on his side curling in obvious pain and eventually woke himself up after turning over a few times.

With an exasperated sigh, Vegeta exited the room to take the drab sandwich from its place and brought it back to him. Perhaps a few more bites would do the trick.

"Here. Finish eating this," Vegeta ordered Auden who seemed to be in a daze.

Wordlessly, he took a few more bites before quickly dropping off again—he hadn't actually finished it much to his annoyance, but it was clear to Vegeta that his own exhaustion was difficult to overcome. It was as if removing the distraction which was his phone had kickstarted every other bodily process that he'd been ignoring. The sandwich ended up being half off and on the plate itself. Vegeta moved the plate to the nightstand and decided he'd take his leave once it seemed like he was firmly asleep and wouldn't be waking anytime soon. At the very least, he'd escaped his usual nightmares.

There was no point in staying and watching him like a child. In the morning, Vegeta assumed he'd have a better reaction to everything. It probably wasn't okay to leave him alone...But what could he do other than to continue getting on his nerves? Gohan wouldn't like it, but he wasn't overly worried about that. He was more worried about the implications of the pandemic. He was worried about Bulma—he didn't know what he'd do if the same ended up happening to her...

* * *

**_"Daddy! It's almost noon time—you're already late!"_ **

Auden groaned as he felt a headache coming on. Her shrill voice cutting through his wonderful sleep was mostly annoying, but it was nice to hear from her immediately upon waking.

**_"Seriously, Dad! Did that woman poison you or something? You're supposed to be up like hours ago and I've been calling your name for like forever."_ **

"Why do you have to be so dramatic?" he murmured to himself with a voice that sounded almost too rough to be his own.

But then his heart skipped a beat as he jolted up in bed suddenly wide awake. _No, this isn't right..._ She wasn't here. No one was here anymore. He found himself hunched over as the tears began to come unbidden. He couldn't stop them. He held his warm face in his hands as he continued for what felt like ages. Then he was interrupted by his vibrating phone in his pocket. As if on autopilot, he reached in and checked the caller ID. Brightly lit letters decorated the screen: Bulma. He canceled the call immediately. There was no way he was going to talk to her in this state. He really didn't want to talk to her at all. If he had it his way, he'd never speak to her again. What had she wanted anyway? Had Vegeta told her what happened? Of course he told her what happened. Why wouldn't he? Aster came over to their place all the time even though he mostly ignored that fact. He didn't want to think about how many times he'd dropped her off in the past. He would grit his teeth every time hoping to dodge that woman before she ever saw him until she chased him down one day. Besides…

Aster was gone.

Aster didn't exist any longer.

Aster would never again remind him to take his pills.

Aster would never get annoyed whenever he paid attention to anyone other than her.

Aster's room would remain empty forever.

Aster…

Just like Mama who he could never speak to again. He hadn't been able to save her like he'd planned to. She'd simply ceased. He'd taken too long. If it was possible to grow up a little sooner, to skip more grades…Nothing ever worked out as he imagined.

"This isn't real, right? This isn't real," he muttered hoarsely to himself. "I _can't_." he said breathlessly as one of his hands now pressed against his chest containing a racing heart that thumped painfully. "It's not real. It can't be real..." But his mind conjured up images from last night of her mutilated form and of her disintegration into nothingness as if she'd never existed, making him sick to his stomach.

He turned on the bed when it became too much, his knees digging into the mattress as he kneeled and bent down into his pillows. _I can't breathe...I can't breathe..._

His phone started vibrating again snapping him out of his panic. Instinctively grabbing his phone, he saw that it was Bulma. He cancelled it quickly. _What the hell does that woman want? I don't want to talk!_ But then his phone started vibrating again out of defiance. He kept cancelling the call until she finally got the message. He sighed exasperatedly at her antics.

He was probably late for work come to think of it, but he didn't care. He couldn't muster the energy to even begin caring about that. And he wasn't done crying yet. He wasn't sure when that would be. He kept thinking about her, reflecting on her short life. The adventure they'd been on, in and out of hospitals both for her and for him, all the far too deep and personal conversations they'd had with each other, all the times they'd discussed what they hoped to do in the future, those long years when she wanted to be a professional pianist only to give it up in boredom, that time when she dabbled in tennis and soccer and rugby, the random trips they took to whatever struck her fancy each week, watching her grow up and mature, helping her to understand the world just as she did for him at times, relinquishing her from his often tight grasp on her life and allowing her her freedom. There were still yet things she hadn't gotten to. She'd had her entire adult life to look forward to. Now, there was nothing left.

When he no longer had the energy to continue crying about something he had no power to change, he found himself fighting sleep once again, his eyes fluttering shut, his body limp upon the soft bed—until there was a knock on the door.

"Shit," he grumbled under his breath.

He listened to the knocking for a while hoping the person would go away since they were probably solicitors trying to get him to buy a magazine. The knocking persisted however, and it became progressively louder.

"Fuck."

He rolled over so that he could crawl out of bed. He wasn't remotely presentable as he shuffled out of his room towards the door, but the knocking needed to stop or he was going to start screaming. He couldn't believe the nerves on whoever was still knocking so fiercely. He unlocked the door and ripped it open ready to chew out whatever insane person happened to be there.

It was Bulma. He closed the door immediately.

Then she was pounding on the door angrily. "You better let me in! I've been calling you over and over—you can't just ignore me. I'm worried about you! I thought something terrible had happened. Let me in!" she hollered through the thin material of the painted metal door.

He leaned his back against the door utterly exhausted. He thought about letting her stay out there to yell until her voice gave out, but he remembered that it wasn't a good idea to push a woman like Bulma. He was asking for much worse to happen "out of concern" of course. He turned and opened the door again to a red-faced and determined Bulma.

"Bulma, I'm fine. You can go home now. I'm surprised you didn't get the message when I didn't answer your million calls."

She stood defiantly with crossed arms. "You're not okay, Auden. No one would be okay after what happened. And you look like you've been crying all morning. What kind of friend would I be if I let you be by yourself all day?"

He stood in silence once again debating if he should slam the door in her face. At the last minute he decided not to. "You want to come in?"

"Yes."

He stepped aside and allowed her entrance. She made herself comfortable on the long couch in front of the television that was just beginning to get dusty again with disuse. He sat in the loveseat that was at a right angle.

"Oh, Auden, you look terrible."

"Thanks."

"I'm being serious."

"What do you want, Bulma?" he asked exasperatedly.

She looked at him a little frustrated. "If you need someone to talk to or talk at, I'm available. You know that, right?"

"I think you've belabored that point many times over," he said drily.

"Look, I know I'm not your favorite person, but pretend like I'm someone else. Pretend like I never took advantage of you before."

Auden sat back in his chair. "It feels petty even to bring it up."

"It's not petty. It affected you more than I could ever imagine and I was too close-minded to ever put myself in your shoes. It's alright. I'm sorry and I'll say it as many times as needed."

"I don't want to rehash the same issues. Is this really what you want to do right now?"

"No," she said quietly as she shook her head gently.

"If you really must know, yes, I was crying all morning. I don't know what time it is. I probably missed work. I don't know what to do with myself. I just…"

"Uh huh," Bulma said encouraging him to continue.

"I don't feel like talking about it."

"Let's talk about something else then. Something to take your mind off of all of this."

"Like what?"

"Don't let me commandeer the conversation. It's all about you today."

"Did you hear anything about Chi-Chi," Auden said suddenly as the thought came to him. "Is she alright?"

"Seriously? You're thinking about someone else right now? You don't need to worry about anyone else but yourself."

"Did you. Hear. Anything. About Chi-Chi."

"Okay, okay, I did. Gohan called me. She's not doing well. He's had to…well, he's had to keep her confined in her room. She won't stop asking for you. He's called on a few trusted psychiatrists to see if they can diagnose her and see if there's any medication that exists that could normalize her."

"Hm, I see," he said thoughtfully.

"You're not thinking about going to see her, are you?"

"No, it wouldn't be a good idea right now. After what happened last time—I don't want a repeat," he lied with a completely straight face. He held no loyalty to her and didn't feel bad throwing her off his trail. In fact, he was planning on going to see her and pilfer her from Gohan's annoyingly watchful eye (so long as she wanted to leave and he was sure she did) as soon as he could get rid of Bulma.

"Chi-Chi used to be a pretty skilled fighter back in her day—you didn't stand a chance," Bulma said on a lighter note. "Don't feel embarrassed about it."

"I wasn't, but thanks for the concern, I guess."

Auden was quiet not sure of what to say now. He knew that she wouldn't be satisfied until he revealed something private about himself and that annoyed him even more.

"My husband still wants to train you, by the way—that offer is still on the table. Maybe it could be something that takes your mind off of things."

"It's not really a concern for me."

"That's alright. It's not for everyone. I couldn't really picture a computer nerd like you doing that kind of thing anyway."

Auden wasn't exactly flattered by the label she used to describe him, but it was at least accurate. "Stranger things have happened."

"And I hope you know that we'll help you get to the bottom of this. The dragon balls will eventually be accessible. We can easily bring Aster and Malachi back."

"Bulma," he said exasperatedly as he shook his head dismissively. "I don't need to believe in a fairytale to make myself feel better. When people die, they don't come back. Everyone knows that." He looked at her squarely daring her to argue back.

"I can see where you're coming from. In most circumstances, you'd be right, but you need to trust me."

"Why should I trust you?"

Bulma seemed taken aback by this, but she tried to hide this. "I wouldn't lie to you like that, not about something this important. Many of my friends have died before and they're all here again."

"I'd have to take your word for it otherwise it's very poor evidence for an extremely extraordinary claim. You do realize that, right?"

"I do. I guess I can't blame you. Seeing is believing."

"That saying isn't exactly accurate."

"What do you mean?"

"Human senses can easily be fooled and we depend solely on our own senses to experience the world which are known to be imperfect instruments. Seeing is not believing—it's simply a hypothesis that still needs to be tested and verified."

"Always cold, hard facts for you, huh. How do you explain ki? Is that not magic?"

"It depends on what we define as magic. Whatever the case, since it's something that can be demonstrated and likely investigated on—it isn't even supernatural. There's likely a natural explanation for the presence of ki yet unknown. Though that's an assumption, nothing unexplained has ever been found to be anything other than natural later on."

"What would convince you that magic exists?"

"I have no idea, but unless it can be proven through something that can be verified I won't have a way of studying it and no reason to believe in its existence unless the method used to identify magic is a legitimate one. This is how we can distinguish fact from fiction. And if there happens to be an unexplained phenomenon, of which there are many, then it will simply be unexplained unless some adequate explanation is found."

"What if we were able to bring you daughter back? What would you do?"

"I don't know," he said shaking his head. He thought for a moment, but then came back to the same response.

Bulma gave him a sympathetic look like that of a teacher pacifying an ignorant student. He frowned at this. "It's like you said: stranger things have happened."

He saw no signs of her backing down from her claims. At the very least, he could tentatively conclude that she believed that it was true. Someone else's belief was perhaps the weakest evidence one could have for the veracity of a claim. "I think I'll be fine for now. Are you really going to spend the rest of the day here?"

"I was planning on it," she said with a smile. "Don't worry about work, by the way. I'll let Trunks know that you've taken an indefinite leave. Take all the time you need to recover."

 _Recover…_ Auden wasn't entirely sure if he was going to recover from this. The things that he was setting out to do—well, it was something he didn't plan on disclosing to others. Perhaps to Chi-Chi, but no one else. They'd probably lock him in jail afterwards and he wouldn't care in the least. He was struggling to find a reason to care about the future. Bulma's visit helped him little in that regard.

"That's nice of you," he managed to say without gritting his teeth. "I don't know if I'm even fit for that job anyway."

"How could you say that?" Bulma asked surprised. "Everyone loves you there. I might not agree with everything you do, but you've developed your own methods of managing and it works. Not only can you do your job, but you're innovative as well and that's hard to find in a typical employee. Not many people can say that they fundamentally changed the culture at their job; it's very difficult to achieve and, trust me, Trunks appreciates your efforts."

"I haven't done much," he said after a moment, "It's just in my small little section of a huge, global corporation. It's nothing permanent. It's nothing set in stone. My practices still aren't reflected elsewhere. Perhaps I've helped the lives of some, but for the vast majority, they still suffer on a daily basis."

"Oh, you bleeding-heart," Bulma said waving her hand dismissively. "Just take the compliment."

Auden glanced over at her—his eyes had been trained on the closed window on the other side of the room. "In that case, thank you."

Bulma was beaming, but for some reason his mood soured further.

"Listen, I'm not the best with keeping up dialogue—this whole thing is tiring me out. I doubt I'd be able to do this all day. I know you mean well, but it would help me more if I had some peace and quiet."

"Why? So that you can secretly fall deeper into depression?"

"No, so that I can further meditate on the circumstances without having the added challenge of entertaining someone. If you want, I'll call you later."

Bulma looked at him with narrow eyes, "I don't like it."

"I'll be fine. I promise. Look at me now. If I was going to be spiraling, it would have happened already. It's not something that happens slowly. I know you may not believe me, but I have been doing better mentally for the past few weeks."

"Past few weeks? And that's it?" Bulma leaned in to look at him closer. "I guess you seem better than I expected. When you ignored my call for so long, I thought the worst had happened. You just really don't want to talk to anyone right now."

"I don't. And I don't exactly feel comfortable being emotional in front of others. The fact that you're here is really annoying the shit out of me."

"Well—someone doesn't have a filter anymore," she said with a laugh.

Auden looked at her unamused. "Please leave. I promise you, I'm fine." _Now let me go insane in the comfort of my own home._ His patience was slowly dissipating the longer she sat there with her knowing looks and pretending as if she genuinely cared what happened to him. He was her little project and she hated being seen as incompetent.

"Alright," she said after another moment. "I guess we're just going around in a circle at this point. You better answer your phone next time if you can, okay? I'm really worried. Don't make me come over here like this."

"Sure. I live to satisfy your every whim."

"It's not like that and you know it!" she said frustrated. He was glad when she finally stood up. "You know that, right?"

"Of course," he said as convincingly as he could muster.

She studied his face and then finally nodded when she was satisfied. "I'll check on you tonight. Please answer your phone, okay."

"I'll do my best."

Auden followed the blue-haired engineer to the door. She turned around one more time to give him a reassuring smile and repeat that she was there for him and definitely on his side before he was able to close the door on her. Once he was sure she was gone, he let out a long breath as if he'd been holding it the whole time.

The first thing he was going to do was free Chi-Chi from Gohan's clutches. If she wanted to fight, then that was fine, but he had a feeling that he could get through to her if he had more time. She seemed perfectly capable of talking before. After that he was going to lock himself in a room and solve the mystery as to who was behind Aster's untimely death. It had something to do with Jensen. It was probably all connected to him. Being part of such a shady family as the Briefs was a curse in itself and he was sure they had made plenty of enemies. He had quite the head start in his investigation. As far as he was concerned, he would uncover all there was to learn about the Briefs and anyone connected to them—no scrap of information would remain unknown to him.

He looked outside for good measure to make sure her car was gone. He made some cursory attempt at getting himself ready and then left for the day. He decided this time that he would take an airplane to Satan City. Looking at his watch, he had another fifteen minutes before another flight went out. Since it was only a ten-minute walk away, he took a brisk stroll to the port and made it just in time. Then he was off.

After making it to one of the stops in Satan City, he had twenty more minutes of walking to get to the neighborhood. He made it there in twelve minutes, walking faster the closer he got to the house. He'd barely come up with a plan. In reality, he really didn't have a plan at all. Knocking on the door probably wasn't a good idea. Trying to get Chi-Chi's attention with the window likely wasn't feasible considering Chi-Chi's condition and that she might be handcuffed by now. What was he going to do exactly?

He saw his car still sitting at the entrance as if he'd been there the whole time. He would escape in that when the time came—it was better than his original plan of running and hiding. The more he thought about his nonplan, the more fascinated he became with his own decision to show up. Was all this risk necessary? He knew the real reason he was here, and it was overruling his rationality at the time. He knew it, but he didn't want to change it.

Only Gohan and Chi-Chi was in the house. He didn't know how he figured that out, but he was confident in his assessment. So far, his senses hadn't been wrong yet.

He could take Gohan, couldn't he? He was just some nerdy scientist who sat in a lab all day.

He knocked on the door and waited for Gohan's arrival. He had to knock quite a few times before he arrived at the door. He was already none-too-happy to see him as soon as he cautiously opened the door.

"I asked Vegeta to do one thing—and then he just goes and ignores me," Gohan said frustrated.

"You know who I'm here for. Please let me see her," Auden said politely, mustering the last of his patience with the man.

"I can't let you do that—she's too dangerous to be left to her own devices and if she receives too much stimuli, she may start fighting against her restraints—I can't go through that again. Anything she says now shouldn't be taken seriously; she's too out of her mind now."

"Let me see her." It was the last shreds of his patience currently being torn apart with the growing tension in his body.

It was difficult to pacify the presence of ki in his body when his own emotions betrayed him. Gohan was already looking at him quizzically.

"Go home, Auden."

That was it. Like a spark in a gas-filled room, his anger got the better of him and his ki sprang forth. Auden wasn't completely upset about that. He enjoyed that feeling of power coursing through his veins spilling out into the air. Gohan was so surprised that he didn't have much time to retaliate.

He could take him.

He lifted an arm out pointing his palms towards the startled man he could barely see through the fierce yellow flames and unleashed a tremendous amount of ki cobbled together and launched in a large column of electricity towards him at point black range. Once that was done, he was in auto drive, sprinting through the house towards where he knew she was. Gohan was unconscious for now. For some reason he knew that and for some reason he believed himself. He didn't feel like questioning himself about it—maybe later.

He whipped the door of Chi-Chi's room open and found her on the bed, handcuffed to the bedpost behind just as he had been. These "friendly" people sure loved their handcuffs. How many of those did they collectively have?

She was awakened upon his arrival and her eyes sought him out immediately. "Auden! I knew it was you! You came back for me!"

"Of course I did," he said approaching her quickly. She was already straining against the cuffs just like Gohan had predicted. "I'm going to break you out, okay? Stay still for a moment."

She obeyed him immediately with a nod. Just as he'd seen Vegeta do in his haze of disbelief of seeing Aster so torn apart, he gathered his ki into a focal point on his finger. It was a little difficult to reign in his energy into such a small area, but he felt it was much more potent. He didn't make it as big as Vegeta had—he wasn't trying to disintegrate a body after all, just a piece of chain. He aimed and launched it directly towards it target. The chain broke away easily. The next one was even easier as he got used to the procedure. The metal band was still on her arm, but she was free. He noticed a bit of technology infused on it which was likely for draining energy—there might be a way to override the lock through something other than a key. He'd have to see. For now, they had to go. Vegeta might decide to show up since he did use a ridiculous amount of his energy. Somehow Vegeta knew whenever he did things like that—a scary thought.

"C'mon," Auden said grabbing the wrist of the wide-eyed woman. It was better to guide her towards the car—she was just a little unpredictable.

"Okay," she said. But once she tried to stand, she stumbled in weakness. He caught her just in time. "Oh, thanks." She quickly pulled herself up. "I'm just a little weak—well, more than a little weak."

"I understand, they did the same to me."

"You? What for?"

"They don't fully understand the situation—they decided to take as many precautions as possible. Now, let's talk in the car."

Chi-Chi followed behind him now. He risked letting go of her wrist when it seemed like she understood where they were going. She seemed a lot more manageable, but that may be because she was so weakened. They moved quickly down the hall and through a couple rooms before they galloped down the few porch stairs and made a beeline for his car that she had driven there a lifetime ago. Finally, he was getting it back.

"Strap up," he said.

She did this as well though with some trouble as it seemed difficult even to pull out the seatbelt. She seemed so frail at the moment—did Gohan really need to go that far?

"They handcuffed you too?" she said tiredly. Her mind seemed fixated on this point.

"They did. Much earlier this morning, I woke up being handcuffed to a bed—it brought back some memories I'd rather forget."

"Sorry to hear that…How did you get out though?"

"I talked Vegeta into letting me out."

"I tried talking to Gohan too…but he wouldn't listen!"

"Maybe Vegeta is a little nicer than Gohan."

Chi-Chi spat at this. "Don't make me puke. But…" she paused as a thought came to her. "Maybe…it's possible that he's more understanding. Something similar happened to Malachi and I heard they were close."

"I had no idea."

"He was training him, I heard, for some silly reason or another. He's always training people these days."

Auden glanced over and noticed her struggling to stay awake. Her voice sounded weak and shaky. His teeth gritted more and more at the sound of it. He'd never seen her like this before. "It's okay, Chi-Chi, just rest."

"I just need to know something—did they drain your power as well."

"They did—at least, Vegeta implied he did. I'm not sure."

"And you recovered so quickly," she said with the beginnings of a smile. "You're so…powerful," she said in conspiratorial tones. "They must have drained a good amount of energy to subdue you, but even with that little bit you still seem to have a lot more to spare, like a bottomless well. I felt it when I was fighting you." Her eyes were fluttering closed.

"Chi-Chi…"

"It's not that you've ever ran out of energy when you get tired and winded, it's that you haven't dipped back into that endless well of energy waiting to be brought forth. When we meditated for the first time, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Even after you think you've put your all into a ki blast, there is always more to pull from…" She started murmuring something else, but he didn't quite understand and he didn't want to wake her up for it.

He thought back to the time when he'd ran out of his apartment because he couldn't control his ki spurting forth. He'd thought he'd used up his energy earlier that day during that meditation, but it was back again and after Vegeta later tired him out, his energy came back moments later and he'd easily took an hours long walk home with Chi-Chi. There was never a moment when he didn't feel like he could bring forth his ki, but he wasn't sure if he'd truly been put to the test on that. He didn't like the sound of testing such a thing.

Auden drove far over the speed limit, constantly maneuvering around slower cars until he caught up to the cars who were going faster still. It only edged him on further. In this fashion, it took him almost thirty minutes less to reach West City. Once he was within city limits, he calmed down his driving as it was the middle of the day and there was no way to escape the traffic. It took the same thirty minutes he'd saved getting there to get to the apartment and park in his usual space.

"Chi-Chi," he said turning to shake her gently.

"Huh?" she said tiredly.

"We're back. Let's go up."

"Oh," she said almost to herself as she fiddled with her seatbelt a few moments longer than usual to get it off.

Slowly, she climbed out of the car and wordlessly followed Auden up the stairs taking each step as if it was a monumental task. He waited patiently for her at the top as she grasped the railing. It took him a moment to realize that Vegeta was already there leaning against his door with his eyes closed and his arms crossed as if he'd been waiting there for ages.

"Shit," Auden said under his breath.

"Vegeta," Chi-Chi said just loud enough for him to hear. "You think we could take him?"

"I wouldn't try it if I were you," Vegeta said as he stood up straighter. He was just a little too far away from them and Chi-Chi had spoken too quietly for Auden to not immediately conclude that the man had extraordinary hearing.

They stepped closer to the man. Auden wasn't sure what he was going to do. Vegeta was always a frightening prospect. For some reason, he thought he'd gotten away for now. It's not like he was in the same area as when the incident had occurred.

"Gohan told you what happened?"

"The man was beside himself in shock and horror. He really let a guy who doesn't even know how to throw a punch to best him with sheer will alone."

"I had to—he was keeping her trapped on her own bed and—

"Color me impressed," Vegeta said cutting across. "I wasn't going to go chasing after you. I knew you'd come back here eventually, and I was just bored enough to wait here doing nothing. You made it in good time."

Auden waited in bated breaths. Was Vegeta going to attack him? Could he really defend himself against him in even the slightest? He wanted to make sure Chi-Chi was safe but…He glanced back and noticed she was starting to fall asleep on her feet as if completely oblivious to the growing tension.

Vegeta stepped away from the door. "Let her rest."

Auden looked at him a moment longer, but he couldn't sense any ill will from him. Cautiously, he moved to open the door and he held it for Chi-Chi to easily walk through. Before she passed Vegeta, he took out a small key and carefully unfastened the broken handcuffs around her wrists. It was one less thing to worry about. Chi-Chi took it upon herself to retreat to the back where his bedroom was. It was just as well. He still had a lot of work to do and a Vegeta he still had to speak to. Since Chi-Chi was now safe, the tension between them seemed to settle, but Auden didn't know what to make of him.

Auden joined him on the walkway outside. Vegeta was turned towards the railing that looked out to the passing traffic with arms still crossed.

"How can you stand living by so much noise?" he asked the moment Auden stood beside him.

"I always have. I'm used to it. If it's not there, it feels as if something is missing. And if you close your eyes long enough, it starts to remind you of the ocean especially at night."

"Hmph, I suppose there's perks to having terrible hearing." A moment passed before he continued. "So you've successfully taken Chi-Chi back, what do you plan to do now?"

"Lots of research. I have a feeling that this whole thing has to do with Jensen."

"Why is that?"

"He's a Brief and Briefs have a lot of skeletons in the closet."

"Maybe to you it seems that way—

"No it is that way. Maybe you've gotten used to it, but the general public doesn't know half the things that CC does. The pandemic is one thing, but there's plenty of other inventions and dealings that is kept under wraps. I'm sure there's more where that came from."

"So you think that will lead you to the perpetrators?"

"I have a strong feeling."

"Even I don't know everything about CC. I try to stay out of it, but I know that I'm irrevocably part of it now. Perhaps your research will take you to Malachi as well. Maybe you should start there."

"Seems like a good a lead as any."

"I want you to keep me updated with everything that you find."

"So you can share it with Bulma?"

"Bulma is too busy right now with other matters. I'll be the one dealing with this. If I find anything concerning enough though, I'll let her know—it is her grandson who's missing too. If I reassured her that you were looking into it, she wouldn't be panicking so much now. So far she's found nothing at all."

"I see."

"Once Chi-Chi has recovered, she'll be a handful again. How do you plan to deal with that?"

"I'm sure I can get her to see reason. I talked to her earlier and she didn't seem nearly as out of control as last time."

"Right. Well, we'll see how that goes. Gohan planned on having a couple psychiatrists come in and prescribe her medication under emergency purposes. I'll have Gohan send them here."

"Thank you."

"You just keep up your side of the bargain. It's clear that she's more comfortable here and Gohan doesn't need the added stress of taking care of his mother—emotionally, he's not really cut out for seeing her like this. I need him to focus on helping everyone rather than specifically just her. Already, there's been reports of random acts of violence around this city and the other. The media can't seem to get enough of it."

Vegeta stepped back from the railings at this and made his way towards the nearby stairs.

"I'm surprised this didn't end in you knocking me out and dragging Chi-Chi back," he said watching his retreating form.

Vegeta snorted at this. He turned to him so that he could look at him squarely. "I'm on your side, Auden. You haven't given me a reason not to trust you. Don't make me regret my decision."

Auden stood just a little more erect when he said this. Vegeta didn't give him a chance to respond before he was taking off into the air. Even though he'd seen Pan do it, he rushed to the railings to catch a glimpse of him speeding off into the sky until he was a tiny dot. _Incredible._

"He's on my side?" Auden said to himself.

It was as if the doors of opportunities were opening up for him. If a guy like that was no longer going to be an obstacle, it would possibly be smooth sailing from here. It made him feel a bit giddy. He had no idea that things would turn out so well. Somehow, he was making the right decisions.

Once inside his apartment, he pulled up a chair at his desktop computer situated between the dining room and living room on the wall next to the window. He sat down and began searching in earnest.

* * *

Bra had decided out of the blue to go on a short road trip to Parsley City which had one of the largest and well-maintained parks on the continent and it was a known attraction for young children. Pan didn't think Jr. and Machi were quite old enough to fully enjoy it. Machi especially couldn't walk all that well and often wound up crawling everywhere. Still, it was nice to get out of the house.

It took about a day to get there with Pan driving. Bra was beside her and the two toddlers were in the back giggling and carrying on. Bra attempted conversing with them, and Pan was amused with the whole thing. It was hard to know just how much those two were even understanding or just repeating things that had been said in front of them. Pan noticed as she glanced back at them that Jr. was quite a bit darker in skin tone compared to the porcelain white of Machi who's dark rust colored hair contrasted sharply. It was as if Jr. spent much more time outside than Machi, but Pan knew that wasn't the case. Jr.'s skin tone was not quite the tan one would get from the sun either, it was a different shade of brown, a more natural tone. She wondered where he could have gotten that from especially since it was different from any other person in the family including Vegeta. The same went for the rust color of Machi's hair. Were these traits that could be mapped back to Malachi somehow? She didn't want to dwell on the possibilities, and she didn't want to stress Bra out anymore than she naturally was just taking care of them in the first place. Her children were alive and happy and that's all that mattered at this point.

Taking those two with them was quite the challenge. They found out quickly that they hadn't brought enough snacks and diapers, that Machi got pretty hyper when she was forced to sit in one spot for too long, and that Jr. loved instigating mayhem—though it was okay because he was so cute. He could use his ki fairly well for someone who could barely talk. Pan didn't think it would be a good idea to have him interacting with other children especially with his penchant for setting things on fire. It didn't help that Machi was always entertained by his antics and would egg him on further and further. She suggested that they wait until nighttime when the park was far less populated. They were supposed to go to bed at a certain time, but rules were made to broken, right? Pan couldn't help but feel like they were terrible parents. At the very least, though, they were having fun.

When they were at the park, Machi and Jr. had a blast—in a good way, not in the Jr.-accidently-burnt-down-the-park kind of way. Pan had to remain vigilant and honestly it was stress inducing and not really all that fun for her. Bra was able to relax, however. She played with them on the swings, helped them on the jungle gym and led them through the main part of the playground with the slides and stairs. They spent quite some time at the fireman's pole because Jr. seemed determined to climb it on his own—he didn't have the arm strength and Machi kept running and/or crawling up the stairs to slide down the pole again probably hoping to fall on top of him because she was not above causing some mayhem herself.

Later on that night though, when they were at the hotel tired and burnt out, Pan received a serious phone call from Vegeta and everything went downhill from there. For some reason, Vegeta had felt the need to tell her instead of Bra even though she was free to tell Bra of her own accord—it wasn't a secret. He wanted them to stay safe and he was putting her in charge of that. Of course, she took on that responsibility willingly, but it left her feeling even more tired than she had been from the outset. People were turning violent and there was no way to tell when someone might snap. There were symptoms that individuals went through at different levels of intensity and then after that the change would occur. Not everyone would lie down at the first hint of a headache or even a fever. Many people couldn't afford to do that and often worked through symptoms that they didn't see as life threatening. Sometimes, if the fever wasn't high enough, some might not even notice it was happening. She'd asked why all this wasn't on the news or why she was just now hearing about all this and all Vegeta could say was that CC had not deemed it necessary to inform the public. It was quite disconcerting to say the least. Sure, they might be in danger somewhat, but other humans were even more so. He also informed her that as far as Gohan's research had revealed, it only affected pure Earthlings and not hybrids like her, Bra, and the toddlers. But they would be around other humans and that was where the danger lied.

Once Machi and Jr. were put to bed, Pan disclosed all this to Bra who didn't worry overly much about the news.

"I've heard of stranger things. As long as it's not some foreign entity coming to destroy the world, I don't think I'll lose much sleep over it."

"But Bra, there's a lot of people who's lives could be changed or completely torn apart because of this."

"My family will be fine," she said.

"What about your mom?"

"She'll figure something out just like she always does. I can't imagine this being the one thing she just couldn't handle. We've been through a lot. I'm sure we can get through this."

"Alright, well, I'm glad you're taking this so well. I'm still worried though."

"About Auden, right?

"What? Me? Never—Alright, maybe a little. I haven't talked to him in a while. He's been hanging out with my grandmother. With all this happening now, it could turn pretty disastrous really quickly. I know your family's been through a lot, but I think Auden has too. I hope nothing bad happens—well, nothing too bad."

"All we can do is hope. Does he know about any of this?"

"I'm not sure. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He's really good at keeping himself informed about certain things especially when it comes to CC."

"I guess hacking has it's merits. Anyways, I'm going to go get something from the vending machine. You want something?"

"Get me some potato chips and whatever soda you're getting."

"We're both being sooo healthy right now," Bra teased.

"Whatever. The kids are asleep, they won't see us pigging out. While you're at it—could you get more than one bag?"

"Way ahead of you," Bra replied laughing softly so as not to disturb the two sleeping.

Pan watched Bra leave with purse in hand. The room was dark, but light streamed in between the curtains from the lights that were on outside. She waited for a while, sitting on the bed near the window. As the minutes drew out, she grew more and more impatient. Leave it up to Bra complicate a simple visit to the vending machine. She wondered if she even knew how to operate one—maybe that was too far. Sure, Bra had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but it wasn't as if she was dumber because of it and they'd gone to vending machines plenty of times as kids. Then she heard a scream and Pan was already scrambling out the door to where she'd heard Bra.

There was an older gentleman whaling on the helpless Bra who's swinging arms did nothing to push back the assault. Pan grabbed the man roughly and soundly knocked him out with one punch to the face, throwing him to the ground in disgust. She was more concerned with the crumbled Bra who was crying now with a reddened face and hands covering it as if in embarrassment. Seeing her like that immediately made her feel guilty about the sour thoughts from before.

"Bra, it's alright," Pan said softly as she dropped down to her level and sat beside her. "It's alright. It's over."

"I'm so weak!"

When she looked up at her, Pan could already see bruising on her face and there were some cuts on her elbows. Who knew where else she'd been injured?

"We need to get you bandaged up, okay? I need to check for wounds."

"Okay," Bra said settling down beside her and then leaning her head on her shoulder. "All the food's over there."

The food was either crushed or spilled open and Pan laughed despite herself. Suddenly her appetite was no longer there. She had to take care of Bra and maybe she'd think about food afterwards. Bra giggled as well.

"Can't believe I can't even defend myself from some random old man. Maybe I do need to go to that dojo."

"You know it has to be serious if you're seriously considering that. Let's just see how you feel in the morning. C'mon," Pan said as she began helping her to her feet.

It wasn't exactly fun sitting on cold, hard concrete and she wanted to get things squared away before the open wounds became serious. Vegeta was probably going to kill her, but, at least, Bra was safe. Going to the playground could have turned out far worse had everyone started losing their minds at once. It was a small miracle that they didn't have to deal with anything until now out at a hotel in the dead of night when there weren't many eyes on them. The Briefs loved their privacy after all and, to be honest, so did she.

Pan made a quick trip to the 24-hr pharmacy not too far away, bandaged up her lover, and finally crashed for the night with Bra comfortably snuggled in her arms.

Come the next morning, they made haste driving home with strangely solemn kids in the backseat. When asked again about whether Bra really wanted to start training, she looked at her like she was crazy. Yeah, of course not. Besides, Pan liked her just the way she was. They'd have to spend more time indoors though just until this blew over— _if_ it blew over anyway.

* * *

Auden was compiling a document that contained all the information he was finding in his research. He knew very quickly that he was going to be bogged down with projects and developments that CC had under wraps. The amount of data that CC had that wasn't available to the public including less than above board deals and relationships that they had with other companies that still existed or had been bought out by them, other politicians, as well as key people in society that held power was astounding. He felt like he was being dragged down into a void of deceit and lies and he felt like it was all besides the point. Auden suspected that these sorts of things were in CC's closet—the biggest conglomerate ever to grace their world—but he'd consciously chose to ignore it. He stopped himself short of stumbling upon these things when his curiosity would get the better of him in the past. Hacking into various databases was a pastime of his—he simply liked knowing things. He rarely did anything with that information unless someone pissed him off.

It all felt like a dead end, but he had to be thorough. He came upon various shady characters which he would then have to take a more in-depth look into later on. One branch would split into two and so his document grew exponentially as he tried to keep whatever he found in an organized flow chart and then other key terms explained extensively in agonizing detail on another document with links that went back and forth between the two.

He wasn't sure at what point of the day his eyes became so tired that it was becoming difficult to keep them from closing or when his brain refused to read one more sentence as it continually remained on the same piece of data like a skipping record or the words on the screen more and more often began to look like gibberish, but he was certain a lot of time had passed since he'd sat down at the computer. For some reason, he pushed himself to continue mindlessly. His eyes continued to gaze into the bright wall of text until he became frustrated enough at his lack of progress to try and remedy the situation. There wasn't a lot of desk space to place his head down, but he moved his keyboard closer to the monitor so that he could have a tiny spot.

When he wasn't gazing at the computer, his mind was rummaging frantically over the things he'd just learned, relieved that he'd decided to keep a document of his finds because he certainly couldn't keep it straight in his head. It was all pooling into an entire ocean of nonsense, and he wasn't sure if he was actually getting closer to his goal. He wouldn't give up though. That wasn't really an option. It wasn't part of the plan. In the background he noticed that it wasn't quiet. Heavy objects were being overturned, things falling to the ground, someone stomping around, someone laughing. Maybe it was just his imagination. He didn't feel like lifting his head to find out just what that was.

"Hey, sleepyhead, you should get some rest. You keep staring at the screen and it's getting annoying!" came Chi-Chi's voice from above.

He looked up to where the sound was coming from and found that she was right there in front of him in all her glory—quite a sight for sore eyes though her image was blurry. "Hm…you're right," he said barely able to get the words out.

"I know I'm right. You'll feel better after that and then maybe we can spar again."

"Okay," he replied not really registering what she was saying.

He found himself in his room again, but he wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten there. All he knew that once his head hit the pillow, he could no longer escape his exhaustion. He was awoken in what felt like a few moments later by the sound of glass shattering on a hard ground. When he tried to open his eyes, he found that he couldn't and eventually drifted off again until his sleep was interrupted sometime later by his phone vibrating. He grabbed it, instinctively lifting it to his ear.

"Hm?" he answered wearily finding it difficult to even part his lips. How long had he been asleep? That was a mystery in itself. Time seemed to have become fluid.

"Auden, have you found anything interesting yet? Bulma's pretty much hit a wall in her research," came Vegeta's clear voice cutting through the fog.

"Nothing earthshattering. I can send you what I have though." He could hear a noticeable slur in his own voice as if he was partially intoxicated and he wondered if he'd spoken loud enough for him to hear. He felt his eyes closing again—it was difficult holding the phone to his face.

"How are you right now," he demanded over the phone. "Is everything—

"I'm fine…"

"Hmph, right. Remember those psychiatrists I told you about before? They should be coming in tomorrow evening to evaluate her. Will you be ready for that?"

"Of course."

It was barely registering in his mind as his eyes refused to stay open once again and he fell asleep. Hopefully Vegeta hadn't had too much else to say. The phone never disturbed him again. Then again, it could be that he was simply too deeply asleep to be disturbed.

When he woke up on his own, the haze from before was gone, though his hunger was back with a vengeance. He grunted a little in pain as his stomach seemed to twist and squeeze tighter all on its own. He couldn't remember the last time he'd sat down and eaten anything, and he didn't feel like dealing with such a mundane activity. All he wanted at that moment was to be back at his computer gathering information. He knew he had a long ways to go.

He was grateful for the clarity he was experiencing as he easily recalled what he'd learned yesterday. Despite the sheer amount of information he'd found, he felt he was headed in the wrong direction. CC likely had nothing to do with the incident and it was his own biases getting in the way of the truth. Jensen wasn't associated with CC directly. Perhaps it was like Vegeta had suggested before. Maybe the fact that Jensen was the son of the late Malachi was a better lead. He'd redouble his efforts today if possible though something told him that it would be more difficult to ignore everything else around him today.

When he climbed out of bed, he stretched a little, noticing quickly that the soreness from before was gone—he was completely refreshed though still starving. Outside of his room, the façade of normalcy disappeared. The fact that his apartment was trashed beyond recognition came into startling focus. Every inch of floor past his bedroom door had something on it, be it picture frames, things from the bathroom or living room, and even shards of glass from broken picture frames. He suddenly felt both tired and not tired at the same time. He carefully made his way down the hall into the living room where it seemed like a hurricane had torn through the place—there were even a few holes in the wall where Chi-Chi had presumably punched though. He sighed inwardly. In fact, he found himself doing that more than once as his eyes took it all in. He should have been upset or angry, but for some reason he couldn't muster up the concern for such strong emotions. His one-track mind was already trying to minimize and disregard the impact of the situation.

Chi-Chi sat upside down on the couch (which had fluff coming out of it now from rough use) watching television—he could see her boots sticking out from the top of the headrest. At the very least, she seemed preoccupied for now. He shuffled past her. The PC was untouched. Everything else was destroyed. The dining room table had lost two legs. The blinds were in shambles, the floor was still littered with trash and things out of place. It was all beginning to feel like a dream. Once in the kitchen, he knew he'd probably have to order out today if he was going to find any decent food. There was such a waste of food on the floor, on the walls and on the counters. She'd thrown out every leftover from the bottom part of the refrigerator as well as the freezer. Cracked frozen plastic storage containers littered the ground along with thawed ice and food that was melting and beginning to smell a little funny. The refrigerator was empty and all its contents were elsewhere. All of it was ruined. Here, he should have been outraged. Instead, he simply sighed again. He imagined it would take some time to get it all back into order, but that was an activity for another time when he wasn't so busy. And when were those psychiatrists supposed to be coming today? He quickly took out his phone to confirm that, in fact, it was today in the evening—at the very least the call from Vegeta which he barely remembered had occurred on the previous day. Hopefully he was remembering what was discussed accurately.

He carefully made his way back out again to Chi-Chi's last known location. He peered over the couch and found her fully engaged with the television which happened to be on the news channel; her head resting on the ground. He watched a few minutes of it despite himself as his curiosity got the better of him. Seemed as if certain parts of the city were looking just as trashed as his apartment as increasing incidents of violence and property damage began to spread. Law enforcement—or what was left of them—were already herding these individuals into the hospitals to isolate them. And still no one knew the cause of it. No one knew about the hidden pandemic and CC continued to sit on the information as public health and society itself seemed to be in, at least for now, growing chaos. That was going to change. He pulled out his phone again and began tapping on the screen rapidly. All the key figures he'd seen on the news including prominent reporters and news agencies would be getting the pertinent information needed to better handle the situation. He made sure not to implement Gohan, but simply CC itself. They would be linked to sensitive information on official sites and they would do with it as they like. This situation was too big for a single scientist to be trying to figure out. It affected everyone—so everyone should be trying to find a cure or at least an adequate treatment. Sometimes, he felt like the only sane person left in his small group of known associates. Bulma seemed sensible. Gohan seemed sensible. No one thought it was a good idea to inform the public. It made little to no sense. He slipped his phone away when he was done and turned his attentions to Chi-Chi.

"How are you feeling?" he asked cautiously.

She looked up at him with the beginnings of a smile. "I feel like I just want to keep destroying things. I want to destroy everything and everyone except for you. I kept your computer nice and tidy for you. I know you don't care about anything else."

"How thoughtful of you," he said with obvious sarcasm, but she didn't seem to notice.

"And you've been slacking on our training!" she accused as she pointed the remote at him.

"I thought we were just exercising."

"No, training! We have to keep making you stronger so next time when we fight you won't be so pitiful!" She sat up from her awkward position which was a bit of a struggle.

"We'll do that later on then."

"You promise?" she said gazing at him intently.

"I promise."

"I want to do it right now though—I'm so _bored_."

Auden glanced over at his PC wondering when next he'd be able to engage with it. She seemed to be getting anxious again. Maybe he should not have disturbed her. His stomach growled much louder than before as if to remind him about his other urgent situation.

"Ooooh, you're hungry? Let me make you something in the kitchen," she said preparing to climb to her feet.

"No," he said stopping her movements, "Don't try to make anything in that travesty of a kitchen. I'll just have to order out."

"Oh, okay," she said as if she'd been chastised, "I guess that makes sense."

A thought came to mind as his eyes sought out a marginally clear space on the ground to sit. In front of the television was a clear strip of floor. That would have to do. He came around the couch to sit there, drawing her attention as he did so. She seemed to listen to him when he gave her direct orders. He wondered if that was the case for everyone or just him.

"Could you come over here? Sit with me," Auden said as he made himself comfortable sitting mostly cross-legged.

Wordlessly, Chi-Chi joined sitting in kneeling position. "I feel like we're about to hatch our plans to destroy the world."

"Not quite," he said ignoring the fact that Chi-Chi seemed very concerned about doing this. "I thought we might meditate for a little while like we did in the past."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, if you insist. Seems like a waste of time."

"Close your eyes," he said as he did just this.

"Auden?"

"Yes?"

"We don't need anyone else; the rest of the world can perish."

"Even your family?"

"What have they ever done for me? It makes no difference to me whether they live or die."

"Why are you so fixated on such wanton destruction? And why do the people you care about mean so little to you now?"

"That's simply what I want. What I enjoy doing. I don't care about those people anymore. And you, so separated from everyone else have no one except me to care about. Wouldn't that be beautiful then, to leave it all behind? How much would you care if you woke up tomorrow and Earth is completely annihilated?"

"It's true that I might not have the strongest personal connection to anyone at this point aside from you—I would still be horrified with the demise of so many other people. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself."

"Your conscience is your weakness. You should leave that behind as well—all that baggage. If I eliminated such trite from your mind, you would feel the same as me: unshackled and free."

"That is simply a part of who I am."

"I can feel it," she began.

Auden at that moment felt something being tugged on and gripped tightly, but not physically. He couldn't pinpoint where he felt the sensation until he realized it might have been entirely mental.

"Your ties to this world grow thin and weak. I can see it and I could rip it apart so easily."

The grip seemed to tightened two-fold and he gasped despite himself.

"Then you would see things my way."

"P-Please, don't do that."

"Alright," she said after a moment, "since I respect you, but it won't be long until the same thing that happened to me, happens to you. I won't even have to lift a finger."

"By then, hopefully, we'd find some remedy. We evolved to have such things as conscience and empathy because we learned long ago that we're stronger together rather than apart."

"But you're not like other people, Auden. I could train you to your fullest potential and you would be a god among men. You would have power beyond any other person I've ever known. No person, no matter how skilled would be able overcome such an advantage. And you would be pragmatic and rational as you usually are and not succumb to arrogance and pride or some insatiable need to grow stronger—you would be the perfect warrior."

"Chi-Chi, please. What you're envisioning is nothing more than a fairy tale. We are here together now in this moment and we have plenty of issues to deal with in the present. Like everything else, we have to take things one step at a time and strive only for things that can conceivably be achieved and setup realistic milestones which we can reach in a reasonable amount of time. Do you agree?"

"I suppose."

"Then repeat after me: I am calm and centered."

"I am calm and centered."

"I am calm and centered," he repeated once again.

"I am calm and centered—how many times do we have to say this?"

"As many times as I think is necessary. You're still fidgeting. I am calm and centered."

"But I'm not."

"I am calm and centered."

She sighed. "I am calm and centered."

They repeated this many times over until he felt as if he was nearly in a trance—he was almost certain it had to be the same for her because she'd become much more still and her previous chaotic aura felt tranquil—he wasn't sure how he sensed this, but he felt certain about it. The phrase which he was having her repeat was one his psychiatrist had told him to tell himself when events started to get out of hand or if he needed a moment to collect himself. Life was often hectic and unexpected. Anxiety could spring up at any time brought on by any number of triggers. It was relieving feeling Chi-Chi's anxiousness seemingly ease off.

"I easily handle whatever comes my way."

"Hmm…Is that right?" she said in a quieter tone.

"Well, I try to anyways. I easily handle whatever comes my way."

"I easily handle whatever comes my way."

"I easily handle whatever comes my way."

"Mmmm, I love how soothing your voice sounds—it sounds like rolling thunder in the distance."

"Th-Thank you," he said caught off guard as she giggled.

His stomach decided to remind him that he was, in fact, starving as it made a particularly drawn out growl which caused her to laugh once again.

"We should probably find some food soon," she said teasingly.

"Don't worry, I have something in mind."

"Are we going out then?" she said with some excitement.

"No, that would be too much for now." He purposefully kept his voice at a near monotone so that it wouldn't stimulate her too much. While she felt much less anxious, he knew that that could change quickly. "We'll stay here, calm and centered, and I will order something. Then you're going to help me clean up as much as possible before those psychiatrists show up."

"Pyschiatrists?"

"They'll…give you some mental training."

"And what about our training at the park?"

"If there's enough time—

"Right after we clean up this place. We're going to the park."

"Only if the cleaning is done in a timely manner. Then I'll freely go with you."

"Really?" she asked as if it was simply too good to be true.

"Of course, I told you I'd do that with you anyway."

"Good," she said satisfied. "Then let's get some food."

"In a few minutes," he said taking a deep breath. "Repeat after me again."

Chi-Chi sighed and then went over the same two phrases a few more times before Auden finally called it quits. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that she looked a great deal more still and she wore a subtle smile. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of that, but soon he was distracted with his phone ordering from a place nearby.

"What are you going to get?" Her tone was conversational and far less animated than before.

"How does…sushi sound?"

"It's like you can read my mind."

"Or I noticed it's the main thing you get at the café at work."

"Same difference. Having someone who notices things about me—well, I suppose it's difficult for me to get used to. It makes me feel…like I'm appreciated."

"You're very much appreciated, Chi-Chi. I hope I've made that obvious enough for you. Since the moment I first met you, I wondered how nice it would be to connect with a person like you."

"When you say connect, what do you mean by that?"

"It means," he began thoughtfully, "getting to know you better, better than anyone else—emotionally, mentally—

"But not physically?"

"Let's just say that I'm not all that interested in that aspect."

"Hm," she said almost to herself. "Well, let me see the choices already," she said referring to the app he was using to make an order.

She moved closer to him and he held out the phone to her so that she could see. From there, he quickly made the order. To his surprise, Chi-Chi simply sat quietly beside him with her eyes closed.

"Anything on your mind?" he asked curiously.

"I just…have a lot to think about at the moment."

She didn't expound from here, but he simply let the matter rest since it seemed like she didn't want to be engaged. He turned to his usual habit of using his phone and thus the time passed swiftly as they waited for the order. Once the food arrived, the two of them wasted no time consuming everything. This was a fairly large order, but they made impressive headway in record time. While chopsticks were still used, their usual manners were almost nonexistent. As soon as a morsel of food touched his tongue his stomach was demanding more very quickly. He'd never been so ravenous before and he wasn't even sure he was satiated by the time he went through several plastic trays of food.

"Here," Chi-Chi said with a gentle smile, "You can have these two—I can't possibly eat anymore."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course, silly, or else I wouldn't have said it."

Auden studied her face noticing an expression there he wasn't entirely used to seeing—a mixture of nostalgia and knowingness as if she'd seen this before. If she had, it certainly was not with him. He gave her a questioning look, but he soon partook of her two conveniently well stocked foam containers and consumed its contents much quicker than he'd anticipated. Why was he suddenly a bottomless pit? Eating in general wasn't exactly a favorite pastime and he'd often put it off until absolutely necessary. Even when he was hungry, he could never put down as much as this in one sitting. Growing up, food was often scarce. He'd learned early on to simply ignore hunger pangs or to drink some water to fool his body into lasting a bit longer before it tore itself apart with starvation especially when he'd have to face consecutive days of forced fasting. The fact that he needed food in order to survive was often the bane of his very existence. If his appetite had been this way before, he wasn't sure if he would have made it very far.

"Sorry," he said embarrassed as he began gathering the empty containers into the plastic bag it came in.

She laughed at this. "Don't be—it's completely normal! And luckily you have me around because I'm a professional at making a lot of food at once."

The thought of having to contend with such an appetite on a regular basis made him quite weary and he sighed in response to her enthusiasm. Maybe today was a fluke. He could only hope.

"Alright, Chi-Chi, you know what we have to do next."

Now it was her turn to be weary if only for a millisecond. "Let's get cleaning then!"

While his energy wasn't completely restored, he wasn't feeling as sluggish as before and at the very least, his hunger pangs were under control. They began in earnest. Auden grabbed several plastic bags and handed some to Chi-Chi. They'd be throwing out quite a few broken things. If his apartment was sparsely decorated before, it would be more like a prison cell now complete with bare walls and subpar furniture. As they were cleaning, he couldn't quite understand why she'd felt the need to do all this. It was amazing that she was now enthusiastically helping him get rid of the mess. He couldn't help but compare her to a particularly rambunctious child who was bored and wanted to get a rise out of their parents. If he kept her preoccupied, perhaps he could avoid this in the future. That would be difficult to do if he wanted to be left alone at his computer. Speaking of that, he was missing his desktop already, but for now he'd have to focus on the task at hand.

They made astonishing good time with the task. The kitchen ended up being the worst of it and they both saved it for last. After the vacuuming, the sweeping, the mopping, and the wiping down with strong cleaning solutions, the place at least smelled immaculate by the end of two hours. It still looked rundown, giving him unbidden flashbacks to his old childhood home. There was nothing to do for the holes in the walls, torn carpet, broken cupboards and other appliances and furniture. This was the best they could do for now. The rest, was a project for later or more likely, he'd simply replace everything else later.

"So now are we gonna' go to the park? We gotta' keep up with your training."

"Exercising," he corrected.

"Right, of course," she said with an overly pleasant smile.

"Since you've been so cooperative and we've made such good time, then I suppose we can squeeze that in today, but let's not go overboard. You have an appointment to keep."

"Don't worry," she said dismissively as she headed for the door.

He had to keep her preoccupied. This was the perfect way to do it. A thought came to him as he unlocked the door. He hadn't told her about Aster. He wondered suddenly if she would even care if he brought it up. Maybe he'd mention something later, after the appointment. It was like living in a different world while dealing with Chi-Chi. Not that it hadn't been like that before, but now that feeling was more pronounced. As if she was some sort of distraction or ward against anything bad happening in his life, when she was around, he felt more at ease. He'd woken up barely able to stop crying and now he was happily going to some park just to get in a little exercise. He was sure as soon as he sat back down at that computer, his mind would be one-track again and he'd feel his anguish building up right where he'd left off before. His priorities were all over the place.

Once at the usual park, they walked briskly down the nearby trail. He thought they were going to the area near the pond and bench, but they passed it altogether. He simply allowed her to take the lead. Maybe she had something better in mind. She stopped directly at the beginning of a different trail that Auden knew to be a very winding path through the entire park. He was a little worried as to what she intended.

"Alright, Auden," Chi-Chi said looking back at him. "Try to keep up!"

She barely finished her sentence and she was running at breakneck speed. He couldn't get a word in edgewise as he was forced to run if he even hoped to voice his objection. He knew he wouldn't make it far, but he couldn't let Chi-Chi get away! He was her chaperone. Vegeta had entrusted her care with him. He had to keep pace!

His legs pumped much harder than they'd ever had in many, many years. He could see her in the distance somewhat close by, but she was getting further. The more winded he became, the further she became. He tried regulating his breathing, but his lungs were on fire after only a minute and he still didn't have the proper shoes on for these kinds of activities. He had all the motivation in the world, but his body wouldn't go much further. He had to stop or else his chest would burst. He stumbled down to his knees in an attempt to catch his breath. His eyes were watering as he watched her form become less and less visible. He struggled to his feet again to jog a few more paces before giving up altogether and his body deciding to do so for him. He couldn't really even stand up or kneel. He wound up laying down on his back on the surrounding grass. Chi-Chi was well out of his reach.

She could be doing anything right now. She could be out in the streets right now causing more and more property damage in her wake and he was too pathetic to stop her. She was much more powerful than him and her stamina far outclassed his own. He'd known that already and today it was made glaringly obvious. He was spent from barely a minute of full-on running and his bleary eyes now gazed up at the sky hopelessly. When he tried to move, he couldn't so he simply stayed right there greedily sucking in the air. Eventually, when his breathing was more regulated, everything became quite peaceful around him. He didn't have enough energy left to do much else and it felt comfortable just lying down—his eyes were half closed, half opened, in a daze thinking of absolutely nothing in particular. It was the most tranquil he had felt in a while despite everything. Maybe this had been Chi-Chi's goal for today, but he doubted it seriously.

He wasn't sure how much time passed when he heard some gravel nearby being disturbed. Chi-Chi's face came into his view blocking out most of the sky.

"There you are. I lost you for a while and I was worried. I went around a few times, but I guess I missed you."

Auden just looked at her wearily, too exhausted to laugh at her impossible expectations.

She moved to sit down. "I got a little winded too after a while, so I stopped and caught my breath. That was a pretty intense workout for me."

Auden still didn't think it was possible for her to get winded, but he simply took her at her word.

"Are you gonna' say something or am I talking to a corpse?"

His eyes had been on the sky, but for a brief moment he looked directly at her. "Hi."

She giggled at this. "You tried really hard. I can tell. I guess…this was kind of too much for you."

He didn't bother with verbally confirming with her.

"I know, why don't you use some of your ki to fuel your stamina."

"That doesn't sound possible," he managed to say though his speech was a bit slurred.

"Hmmm….I guess I've never tried before but it sounds doable, right? Try it out."

He sighed and closed his eyes as he felt for his now familiar ki. It wasn't as energetic as before and pulling it forth was more of a challenge this time. His ki presented itself in a way that seemed just as exhausted as he felt at the moment. It generally resembled lightening, now it lazily came off his skin in intermittent wisps and that was all. He felt warmer, he felt a bit more stronger physically, but there was no change in his stamina and, in fact, he was moments away from dropping off altogether—it felt like he was draining what energy he had left to stave off fainting right then and there. He stopped forcing his ki to appear after a few moments of no real improvement.

"There. Happy now?"

"You don't feel any better?"

"I don't think you can use ki to improve your own levels of fitness. Doesn't matter how much or how little I have—if I'm too tired, it's difficult to use."

"I guess that makes sense. Having a lot of ki is usually coupled with having a lot of energy as well, but ki must be different from your overall condition, maybe it works in tandem rather than on its own."

Auden took a chance and sat up which was more of a struggle than he realized—Chi-Chi helped him until he was in a good sitting position. "It's better to set out realistic goals, otherwise people tend to give up when it looks like they're not making much progress."

"Auden…"

"Let's not do this again. If you want to run around, that's fine. I'll just wait for you in the car." It took him a moment, but he climbed to his feet with a bit more ease. "C'mon, let's go—you've had your fill, right?" He glanced at his phone's time. "And I suppose we can make it back in time."

"Wait, Auden…"

He paused and turned to her as she hadn't started moving yet. He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

Auden looked at her wearily, but turned away when he realized he had nothing nice to say back. He started making his way in the direction of the parking lot. Chi-Chi trailed him for some reason.

"Maybe pushing is the wrong word. It was more like being an asshole to someone I knew couldn't keep up and embarrassing them in something they were just doing because they're extremely polite and wanted to spend time with me and they're willing to compromise."

This time it was his turn to pause. He waited for her to reach him but she never did. Instead, he had to glance back at her. "Your apology is accepted. I suppose I see where you're coming from. It can be frustrating to have to babysit someone who's so far beneath you in skills. I would suggest finding someone else to train with if that's the case."

"No, that's not what I want at all! I want to help you improve. You're not _beneath_ me! You're incredibly powerful—you just don't know it yet."

"Right, because you've become so taken with figuring out just how much ki I happen to possess. I'm not sure if that even matters at this point. I'm not sure if I even care. It's really more of a nuisance than anything else. I doubt you or Vegeta would be so invested if my ki was within normal range. I hate overexerting myself or being active in any way, but I realize it would be beneficial to my overall health and longevity if I at least put in some effort."

"I get it," she said quietly as she nodded to herself, but she didn't expound. She did, however, have on a determined expression and Auden didn't like what that could possibly mean.

Chi-Chi finally caught up to him as he slowly made his way back to the car. Every step was painful. He'd thought he'd gotten over his soreness from before, but now he felt as if he'd taken two steps back. He felt even more broken down. He decided to drive despite himself because he didn't trust the spontaneous Chi-Chi behind the wheel. At least he wasn't in danger of falling asleep anymore. As soon as he'd stopped desperately trying to pull forth his now allusive and tired ki, recovery from today's asinine activities occurred a bit more swiftly than he anticipated. Chi-Chi was presently gazing out the window deep in thought and that was just as well. He was a little frustrated with her, but he didn't imagine he'd be that way for long. It was already fading.

When they were climbing out the car, Auden noticed two well-dressed men doing the same a few parking spots away—he wondered if these were the people who would be seeing Chi-Chi. He waved at them and they waved back. Auden continued on his way with Chi-Chi in tow but stopped when they made it to the door. He waited to see where the men were headed.

"Oh, you must be Chi-Chi," one of the men said as they walked to the door they were standing.

She smiled and nodded at the man. "That would be me. Let's hurry up and get this appointment over with."

Auden was already opening the door so that they could all step into the freshly cleaned apartment. They introduced themselves as the doctors who Vegeta had told him about—Dr. Sevant and Dr. Lee.

"Do you have a private place for us to begin," Dr. Lee asked politely.

"You can use my room," Auden said as he led them down the hall.

Chi-Chi followed along as well, trailing behind all of them. Auden could tell that she wasn't all that enthused about any of this and he had a feeling she was cooperating only because he'd suggested that she should. He was glad that she listened to him somewhat otherwise this whole thing would have been a lot more difficult. His room was untouched by Chi-Chi's destructive ways, but it was also not very big. They'd have to make do with a bed. On second thought, he supposed he could grab chairs from the kitchen.

Dr. Sevant turned to speak with him as the other doctor led her to the bed to lie down. "We were told that the situation is dire, but she does seem a bit calmer than what was described—still, I trust Dr. Son's judgement on the matter. This is an emergency intervention. If medication is needed, we'll be able to obtain it quickly."

"Just to be transparent, my place generally doesn't look so trashy. This morning, I woke up to a place that was far worse than what you see now." The man looked at him with eyes that suggested that he had his full attention. "She seems calm now, but left on her own, she's liable to start ripping things apart and I'm afraid that this destructive need doesn't end with just inanimate object—it just so happened that that was all she had within her grasp."

"And what about you, sir? Do you feel safe around her? You've been in close vicinity to her for some time now."

"I don't feel as if my life is in danger when I'm around her, but she's admitted to me that she takes pleasure in destruction of any kind."

"From your estimation, why do you think it is that she hasn't done anything to you directly?"

"I think it's likely because she trusts me or that she sees me as some means to an end—whatever that might be. It's not as if she hasn't tried to fight me before."

"I see," the man said thoughtfully.

"I'll bring some chairs in here for you two to use."

"That would be most appreciated."

As it was with obtaining help from others, it was better that they had as much information about the situation as necessary so that they could make an accurate diagnosis. Auden felt a little better with them around. He hadn't been entirely sure about it before, but it seemed like they really wanted to help and though people had some misgivings about mind altering medication, they did, in fact, work and he'd been on many of them. They all had side effects and it depended on the person how much it would affect them. It was a reasonable treatment to a pandemic which seemed to be changing the very DNA of the population in a permanent manner. He couldn't imagine anything which could actually reverse the affects of what had already been done.

Once he had the kitchen chairs situated in the room, he closed the door after a brief reassuring wave to Chi-Chi whose eyes looked a bit more concerned by the time he left. She was preoccupied now; he could return to his obsession on the computer. He was all too happy to begin again and this time he went down the endlessly looping trail that was Malachi's life. There was much more data to trudge through since he was such a high-profile individual and once again he seemed associated with a number of shady characters almost on par with CC's not so great habits. He continued indefinitely from there adding more and more to his document which organized relevant information and possible new leads.

He heard the door to his place open and close a few times as one doctor would leave and return—they would say why they were leaving, but Auden wasn't paying attention. They seemed to know what they were doing so he left them to their work. It wasn't until they announced that their visit had come to an end that he acknowledged them a little with a brief nod and thanks. Chi-Chi was resting in the bedroom and she should feel much better afterwards, and they would be back with a follow-up in a week's time. They exchanged numbers as well so that they could speak directly to him rather than just to Gohan who did not currently have Chi-Chi in his care.

"Mr. Tyga, you've done an excellent job taking care of her. I wasn't too keen about having her in handcuffs. Surely, there must be a more civil way of going about things, especially if we're trying to establish some level of trust," Mr. Sevant said standing near the door a few steps away.

Auden paused from his work though it was difficult tearing his eyes from the screen. "Thank you, but I can't take all the credit—it was her decision as well to agree to work with me. It was mutual effort."

"It certainly is. I'm relieved we were able to make some headway today. Anyways, Mr. Tyga, have a good evening and we'll see you next week."

"Likewise."

That was that. Now he could focus a bit more knowing she was alright. After they left, he went to check on her and found that she was indeed resting in the bed. She seemed peaceful and he didn't see a need to disturb her. Maybe she'd be a new woman in the morning or maybe he'd have to deal with an even worse apartment. He was hoping for the former. He returned to his computer and continued where he left off.

* * *

Auden was no longer keeping up with time. He had no idea what was happening around him. He did, however, know everything that he'd wanted to learn since he began his painstaking investigation. He knew where Jensen was likely located. He knew who was likely behind this pandemic, their motivations and how it all had to do with Malachi. Reduced to the most simplified explanation—it was the very human tendency of obsession which had ended up dooming the entire population to a pandemic that would be difficult to recover from if at all. Already, he'd seen news articles about new research that was being done in the wake of widespread realization that they were dealing with a global disease along with widespread panic. It was already being connected to a massive uptick in miscarriages, stillborn, and fatal pregnancies as well as a whole host of other side effects. At the very least, these things were being addressed rather than swept under the rug so that the suffering could be lessened. So far, no one had angrily called him about letting the cat out of the bag, maybe they finally understood that this was necessary and that more doctors doing research would always be better than relying on one or two people. More data was always better especially if it was collected carefully and accurately. Having a better picture of who was infected and who was going through changes and how much variations symptoms could take were all valuable information that was very much needed to combat all this.

It was about self-preservation as well. In the back of his mind, he was worried about himself. He'd just been able to ease off of a good number of medications he used to take. Now it seemed he would be right back where he started once the changes occurred within him. He hoped he'd never have to experience it, but it was a silly notion. It would happen one way or the other, but hopefully not before he could get his hands on the person who'd put events in motion that would end up taking his daughter's life. After that, he didn't care what happened to him.

He noticed, before he tapped on his cellphone screen to contact Vegeta, the sound of cooking in the distance. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion wondering who that could be in the kitchen. It had to be Chi-Chi, but he didn't remember her getting up today. He walked cautiously over to the entrance of the room where all the noise was coming from and found her chopping away at onions. He didn't interrupt her until she was finished with the knife as he didn't want to surprise her during such a precarious activity, but to his surprise, she turned to him.

"Oh, Auden! You finally managed to pull yourself away from that awful computer!" She set the knife down and walked over to him.

"Awful?"

"It was like talking to a brick wall. You were very tunnel vision, nevermind the world outside of a computer screen. Without me, you'd just be a slave to bright screens. Anyways, this morning was crazy. I woke up in your bed and I had no idea how I got there honestly. I was actually pretty scared, and it took me a while to even leave the room. I looked around and found you at the computer. This place looks terrible too. I'm still not sure whether this is real or not. I don't know why the furniture looks a thousand years older or the holes in the wall or why certain things are missing. The kitchen was bare, so I went shopping and bought a few things which I'm cooking right now. But now that you're back in the world of the living—maybe you can explain why it's like this and why I'm here. I could have sworn I was back in Satan City!"

"Wait, you did all that and I didn't notice?"

"Yeah, your little love affair with technology is really getting out of hand."

"I…was researching something very important. I'm done at the moment. First, I have to ask you—how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," she said looking at him confused. "Well, I guess, not as bad as I was feeling when I went back home. I was fine when I went there and then Gohan was running his tests and then it was downhill from there. I was having these awful headaches and this fever that wouldn't go away making me dizzy."

"That sounds terrible. I'm glad you're feeling better and more like yourself. You were under the weather for a time and then I visited you."

"You did? That part I don't remember. Maybe I was asleep."

"No," he said shaking his head. "You were wide awake. You knew I was there and called my name. Bulma told me that you were asking for me."

The confusion never left her face, and it was beginning to slowly and painfully break his heart.

"Did something happen?"

"You…" he began, "became quite violent. Gohan would be able to fill in the details better than me. When I arrived, you started to attack me and we got into a fight. It was broken up soon after. Don't worry, we all knew you weren't of your right mind and I'm fine," he said as her expression became concerned. "Gohan was able to bring the situation back under control. At some point, I decided it would be better if you were here instead of over there so I took it upon myself to drive you back—at the time, you were onboard with that decision and came with me of your own accord. That's why you're here right now. A couple doctors came and evaluated you and gave you medication that apparently was able to stabilize you with the added side effect of forgetting the past events since the change occurred."

"So that medication on the nightstand—that was really for me. I took those beforehand?"

"Exactly."

"Still this is a lot to swallow. Hearing it from you, well, I guess you have no reason to be lying about that. I'll certainly have to speak to Gohan about all this."

"Please do—I'm sure he'll give you a fuller picture."

"Also, there's something that's been bothering me since I knew you were here. Well, I guess I just want to apologize for taking your car like that."

"I was never upset about it. I'm sure you had a good reason for doing so. I have it back already."

"Yeah, I know. I saw it in the parking lot. A lot really happened between what I remember and now apparently. Still, I'm sorry. That night, you had said something, and it didn't sit well with me. That's why I had to leave in such a hurry."

"It's alright, we can discuss that sort of thing later. I have a few things I need to take—

"No, enough time has passed, and I want to get this off my chest."

Even though he knew that his heart wasn't actually being torn apart—it still felt like it and it was still painful, but he was quite good at hiding his emotions so he simply stood there waiting for the guillotine to drop. After the blood drained from the ensuing gaping wound, the pain would subside eventually, right? Nothing good was going to be said. Falling in love? That was too soon, too fast. No one did that so easily. No one except him who didn't require much for that to happen. Aster knew that all too well and she always warned him against it. She always told him how ridiculous he was being and that he was never thinking things through when it came to those matters.

"Of course," he said, "Whatever you need to say, I'm always here to listen."

She took a deep breath and then began. "I already fell in love a long time ago with someone I told you about from the very beginning. Just because Goku isn't here, doesn't mean I love him even less. In fact, the opposite is true and I know he'll be back someday eventually. He always comes back. I know you said it's possible to fall in love with more than one person, but that's just not the case for me. I can't imagine doing it. You've been nice to me though. I appreciate your affection, your honesty, and you've encouraged me to be a better person. I appreciate all of that, but I would really like it if we were just friends. That's something I really need right now. What we have—I don't want it to end because I think this is the best I've felt in a long time. Getting out of the house, seeing things other the same places, getting to experience someone so far outside of who I usually spend time with—it's been very healing. I'm sorry if I led you on in anyway. I could say that I love you as well, but as a friend."

"I…understand," he forced himself say. He could feel the tears coming, but he was successful at staving them off.

"Really?" she asked with suspicion in her tone. "It certainly sounded different when you were talking to me last night—or whatever night that was. I know you said it casually, but we both know what that meant and who knows how long you've been feeling that way about me. I hope it wasn't long."

"I do understand," he started again. "It's not like you were ever hiding anything. You told me about this Goku from the very beginning. I'll simply have to make do with just being friends. I knew there was always a good chance that it would end up like this and I'm just glad we can be honest about that."

"Auden," she said with crossed arms. "How naïve do you think I am? It's not that easy to just turn off your emotions once they're there. I know that better than anyone."

"It doesn't matter, right?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"What I feel doesn't matter. That's what all of this means, right?"

"No, Auden, that's not it at all. We just feel a little different about things."

"Since we're being candid at this point, I'll just be blunt and tell you that actually I don't understand how you could still be in love with someone who's made himself completely unavailable to you. What sort of relationship could there be when there isn't even any communication? And I still love you even if it is unreciprocated. Since that time you decided to spend the night here with me, that has always been the case and, yes, I know that sounds silly. I don't know when that would ever change. But I promise you, I will always respect your boundaries the same way you've always done for me."

"Auden—you're right. I don't know why I'm still devoted to him, but I am and I can't seem to change that and it would hurt more if I pretended as if that wasn't the case. And I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't want any of that to happen. I didn't want to lead you on, but I ended up doing it anyway. Your feelings do matter to me. They will always matter to me."

"Alright, Chi-Chi," he said with a sigh. "I really must go. I have some things to take care of."

"What things?"

"Things."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but then let the matter rest. "I've made a lot of food for us and I have a feeling you haven't eaten anything all day—it's not good working on an empty stomach!"

"I'll get to that later," he said making his way now to the door. "Just put it in the refrigerator."

She tsked at this. "Ugh! You and your refrigerated food. It's way better fresh, you know. You can't be in that much of a rush. When will you be back? Maybe I'll have it warm for you by that time."

"I don't know."

"You're acting strange all of a sudden," she said in a more serious tone.

He glanced back at her. "Well, maybe you don't know me as well you think. I'll be back at some point. Please don't waste the food."

He left it at that even as she protested. He couldn't take any more of her at the moment. He needed some space and he was sure that she needed some as well. Surely she wasn't expecting to have some pleasant meal at home after all of that. He needed some time to accept where their relationship was now. In the meantime, he couldn't really feel his heart anymore—all the blood must have drained out by now. It was the perfect state to be in as he thought about the ways he would take out his anger on the asshole who was behind everything. Of course, he hadn't acted alone, but he was the ringleader. The others would be taken care of too in far crueler ways. If anything, the ringleader was getting off easy. His accomplishes would have to suffer. All he needed to do was buy some zip ties and he could put his shoddily made plan into action. First, he would call Vegeta and tell him about everything he'd found out as promised. Vegeta would likely take care of getting Jensen back on his own. In the meantime, he'd have other things to attend to.


	13. Random Out-of-Context Halloween Chapter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Auden explore a haunted house.

Bulma laid down in her bed completely bored. She'd ran out of a house party one of her friends were hosting when she found her latest boyfriend making out with someone else. Sure, he'd been very inebriated, and he wouldn't remember anything in the morning, but she was through with him.

At long last since she'd laid down on her bed, her anger had subsided. It was Halloween night, however, and she still wanted to salvage it. There was only one person she knew that wouldn't be caught dead at a party and so was free from all the drama: Auden. She wondered what he was doing. Likely, he had his nose in a book, taking unnecessarily exhaustive notes, burning the midnight oil in brain numbing schoolwork. Auden didn't seem to know what taking a break even meant. It was too bad he didn't have a cellphone so then she could bother him to death. The way he stayed at school long after it was over just to spend untold hours on the computer, Bulma supposed he'd probably enjoy a decent cellphone. She thought of simply buying him one, but maybe that would be too much. He wasn't exactly all that enthusiastic about her buying him things, but he appreciated her gifts all the same. There was no way she was going to let that poor boy continue using those eyeglasses when he obviously read enough for several people each night. She couldn't imagine putting herself through that kind of torture. Was going to college really all that important?

He, at the very least, had a house phone. He didn't answer it often, but she was desperate enough to try it out. She grabbed her cell after a few moments of indecision. Then she started ringing and ringing. It took about five minutes of this before she finally got what she wanted. She smiled to herself as an annoyed Auden answered the phone.

"Ugh, Bulma, what do you want? I'm busy right now."

"Nice to hear your voice so late at night. You're not doing anything important right now, are you?"

"What part of 'I'm busy', do you not understand?"

"Doing homework?"

"Yeah."

"But we weren't assigned homework this Friday. Saturday's free, baby!"

"I-It's just something extra I was doing."

"I knew it. You're busy overachieving again. You're probably looking through the next chapter already. Just wait for school like the rest of us. It'll still be there, I promise. After this weekend, you can read textbooks to your heart's content."

He sighed at this. "So why did you call?"

"Is your mom home?"

"No. Night shift on Saturday."

"Perfect. Now, another question. How do you feel about Halloween?"

"Umm…well, Mom doesn't celebrate it. She says she doesn't want to celebrate Satanic holidays."

"But what do you think about it?"

"Well…I like candy. I don't really believe in God or Satan and I like the cool decorations. You know the ones we put up in school? That was kind of fun to do. And…"

"And?" she said when he paused.

"Nevermind, it would be pretty reckless of me to say."

"Ah! Now you have to tell me!"

"Just forget I said anything. Now will you tell me why you called? You just wanted to talk about Halloween or something? Wasn't there this big party someone was throwing?"

"Forget that stupid party, I have a better idea! I know this haunted house we could go to. I didn't want to go alone."

"A haunted house…" he said as he was likely thinking about it. "I don't want to go outside—it's cold!"

"How about I buy you a nice winter jacket that'll keep you nice and insulated—will you go out with me then?"

"Bulma, you don't have to bribe me all the time."

"Alright, that settles it! I'll be over in a little while. You don't mind riding hover bikes, right?"

"Hover bikes? I've never ridden one before."

"Then sit tight."

"No, wait—

She hung up before he could start fully protesting. With an objective in mind, she hopped out of bed and grabbed her vehicle capsule. She had a couple destinations to head to. Her parents weren't exactly concerned about where she went especially on Halloween when she was liable to be at a party all night. Since she'd made it to high school, they gave her a lot of freedom to do as she saw fit. Having the IQ of a genius, they trusted she could make good decisions for herself.

She wore her hair down and had already changed out of her party clothes to something more suited for travel—her red tube top, light brown cargo shorts that accentuated her legs, and her favorite durable sneakers perfect for walking long distance. She wondered if Auden might finally slip up and let his eyes wander and linger somewhere other than her face this time. She always wondered that no matter how often she hung out with him in school, but surely _outside_ of school things could be different. And killing two birds with one stone, she also had someone to drag along on her zany adventures when everyone else had better things to do.

Bulma sped off from her quiet home and took a shortcut to the nearest department store. She was just in time to get in and out with a good jacket. She got a little carried away when she found his size quickly—a mint green parka and a baby blue sheepskin jacket with a Napa finish. The latter was much more durable and perfect for going through big scary houses. She'd spent a pretty penny on both, but it was barely a drop in the bucket for her. She knew he'd look fabulous in those color with his blond hair and warm skin tone. Besides, she needed a proper bribe if she was going to pull him away from his dreadful books.

Her feet pressed the pedal a bit harder subconsciously as she shot into the rundown, lower income side of town. People were still out as well, smoking and drinking—she tried not to make eye contact. Youths at the party had been doing the same thing, but for some reason this felt a little scarier to her. She made a beeline for his apartment, popped her vehicle back in the capsule and knocked on the door. It didn't take him long to answer much to her relief. Last time she'd came, the door had been open already because the locks were broken; she hoped they'd gotten it fixed by now.

"Ta-DAH!" she shouted as she stepped into the place. She brushed passed him.

"Bulma, you seriously came all the way here?"

"Of course! We're going to the haunted house! I bought you some decent jackets too as promised."

She walked over to the nearest couch in the living room and opened the capsule with her purchases. She watched as his scowl turned to fascination as he took in what was laid out. He bent down on his knees to get a closer look. The first place he looked was the size tag and then he gave a quick, barely perceptible nod to himself as he continued his inspection. She knew she'd sized him up perfectly. Even underneath all those ill-fitting clothes, she could tell what would fit him.

"Bulma…these are incredible…I don't know what to say," he said with a slight warble in his voice.

"Wait, you're not crying, are you?"

"S-Sorry," he said glancing up at her with watery eyes. "They're so expensive. I can't imagine…"

"Geez, they're just jackets, Auden. Now are you going to come with me?"

"I hate having to wait at the bus stop in the freezing cold all the time," he said ignoring her last question. "Day in and day out. Even when I get to school, I never quite warm back up before I'm back in it again. Then it never gets warm enough at home—I'm just cold and miserable all the time. Summer is way better. Thank you, Bulma—really, I'm grateful."

"Alright, alright already," Bulma said slightly embarrassed. It was almost always like this whenever she got something for him. Secretly, she liked his gratitude, she could eat it up all day. It was so easy for her and yet, apparently, it meant so much to him. It was kind of cute.

"I feel obligated now to go with you. If you're still dead-set on going, then count me in."

"That's the spirit!" she said rushing over to hug him with all her might. Sometimes he'd tolerate her, but this time he pushed her off immediately. "Hey!" she shouted.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like stuff like that," he said with a hard glare. "I feel like a broken record sometimes."

"You barely like anything, what's new? Besides, everyone needs a little hug every now and then—especially you."

"Especially me, huh?" he said wearily. "You're really hardheaded, you know that?"

"Well, you're _more_ hardheaded. Every time I try to get you to loosen up, you're pushing me away."

"I should do it more often," he said under his breath even though she was just able to hear it. "What's with the light clothes for the nippy weather outside?"

"Is that really all you see?" she said teasingly as she stood up and did a slight curtsy with her leg and then a quick shake of her chest.

Not only did he not react, he seemed more interested in the jackets she'd bought. He'd rightfully decided to wear the sheepskin one as he began putting it on.

"Ugh! You don't even see me."

"What are you on about now? I'm getting ready. You can just freeze to death outside."

"It's not even that cold! Stop being so dramatic."

"I'll be right back. Let me find some shoes first."

She waited with crossed arms as he made the short trek to his room. "Hey! Wear your hair down today!" she shouted down the hall so that he could hear.

"No!" he shouted back and that was that.

She sighed inwardly to herself. It was always one step forward and two steps back with him. As much as he got on her nerves, she liked when he stood his ground, she liked when he was unapologetically himself. That was the side of him that she adored the most. Whenever he compromised, she wished that he didn't, but then she wished that he did. She wasn't entirely sure how to sort all of that out in her head. Bottom line was that he was entertaining enough for her to hang out with every now and then when she wasn't steeped in her usual high school drama. She wondered if she could confide in him things that most people didn't know, but he always seemed so busy. Besides, she didn't know him that well. Better to keep things strictly friendly and professional. Considering how quickly their romantic relationship had dissolved on that one fateful day at the lockers, she wasn't sure if she could fully trust him. Clearly, he had some deep-seated issues if his response to a pretty girl giving him the best kiss in the world, was to run.

"I'm ready," he said when he stepped out again.

He wore the same holey shoes from school. Maybe she'd buy him some shoes later if he proved to be a decent adventure buddy.

"Alright then, let's go," she said as she headed outside.

With a pop and puff of smoke, her bike reappeared waiting to be used once again. She climbed on without a second thought but glanced back when Auden didn't follow immediately.

"It's not gonna' bite ya," she said to a concerned looking Auden.

"It's not that I'm worried about." He shook his head and then climbed on, sitting directly behind her.

"Hold on tight to me," she advised.

It took him another long moment, but he eventually did so. She could feel his warmth against her back, the faded smell of his cheap cologne he liked to wear to school, but more prominently, she could feel him shivering and his breathing a bit too quick.

"Cold?" she asked.

"No, this jacket is working wonders."

She chuckled at his verbiage. "Oh, I get it. You're nervous. Never been so close to a pretty girl."

"Can we just go before I change my mind?"

"Okay, fine then," she said in a teasing voice.

She sped off immediately and whipped through the neighborhood. They had a ways to go before they reached their destination. It was outside of the city and deep into the nearby forest. His trembling seemed to ease off twenty minutes in much to her amusement. If he was already this visibly scared of riding a bike with a girl, he was definitely going to be at his wit's end at a haunted house. She was surprised he'd agreed. Maybe it was a sign of some improvement on his part. The more she exposed him to things, the more open he might become. It was worth a shot. Despite herself, she thought it was kind of cute, how shy he was. She enjoyed bringing him out of his comfort zone.

She'd actually never been to this place before. She'd only read about it online. It had the most credible ghost sightings to date, and it was right in her backyard! She'd kept putting it off as even she wasn't immune to fear and she couldn't find anyone to join her. Now was the day that her questions would all be answered. She didn't exactly have the right equipment for ghost hunting, but she just wanted to walk through to see if she felt anything at all. Places like these had a certain aura.

She slowed down the bike as the large, darkened mansion came into view behind all the trees and overgrowth. She carefully made her way through the partially opened gate—other people must have gone in before—moving around the courtyard with a gray, dried up fountain, and went to the tall entrance steps, wide and beckoning. This place had to be haunted. It was so dilapidated, and the air felt a little frosty here compared to anywhere else.

As soon as the bike stopped, Auden hopped off the bike as if it were poison. He was still a bit anxious about the whole thing which was a little ridiculous. She rolled her eyes as she capsulized her bike.

"So? Scared yet?" she said to Auden who'd been gazing up at the place silently.

"Fascinating," he said. "I never knew such an elaborate place was even out here so close by. Imagine what it must have looked like in it's heyday—it makes you wonder why it fell into such disrepair."

"Huh," she said looking up as well. "I never thought of it like that. It just looks scary. I bet there's ghosts in there."

"When you said haunted house, I didn't think you had this in mind. This is just some old house. It's not like it's an attraction or anything."

"Oh, no, I only want to go to the real thing."

Auden snorted at this. "The 'real' thing? Bulma, there's no such things as ghost. We're more likely to see a huge rat than anything else. Some night creatures even have eyes that reflect light which can be a little startling if you're not ready for it. In a place like this, I bet a lot of animals have taken shelter here." He turned to look around at the courtyard. She noted his expression of wonderment as he took it all in. "Maybe some time before we were ever born this place was just like any other regular home. They probably had no idea that in the future, it would be described as a 'haunted house'. Funny how time changes our perspectives on things."

"Well, I'm glad someone's having fun. Say what you will, but this is the perfect hiding place for spooky things."

"I hope you have flashlights. I wouldn't be surprised if there were cave-ins."

"Way ahead of you." She used another capsule to release a set of powerful flashlights that could light over a hundred feet in front of them. "Turn it on like this," she said showing him the button. "I put in fresh batteries, so they'll last for 16 hours which is more than enough for us. And it can use solar power to recharge."

In this way, the two of them held flashlights in front of them lighting as much as possible around them. It was nice having Auden nearby. To her surprise, he wasn't the least bit scared or jumpy. Having a cooler head beside her might be her saving grace because she was already being drawn in to the spookiness and they were just outside. Auden took the first few steps forward as Bulma was hesitating. She followed along quickly before he caught on to it. She was just a few paces behind him, waving her light to anything that moved. Unfortunately, a lot of things were moving, leaves rustling, gravel crunching, creatures making noises.

"It's just nature," he said in quiet tones, "a lot of critters are probably taking shelter and they're a lot more active at night."

"R-Really?"

"Really."

He had all the fuel in the world to start teasing, but he didn't seem interested in that. She put on her brave face and stayed her hand, resisting the urge to turn to every minute sound. Inside was much worse. There were way more sounds and it sounded like things walking. There were fluttering noises, whistling noises, and worst of all creaking noises of someone or something sneaking around.

"Do you hear that?"

"Sounds of an old building slowly deteriorating with time."

"Could it be a ghost?"

He sighed exasperatedly. "Ghosts don't make noises, right? They're immaterial. If there was a ghost, we wouldn't see it coming," he ended cheekily.

She pushed his shoulder playfully which only got her an annoyed looked from him.

"It's amazing how much you like to touch people. You just can't resist."

"Is that really what you're worried about right now?"

He shook his head and returned his eyes to the front. They passed a couple portraits, but one of them Auden stopped in front of.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"It caught my eye. Look at it. Do you see what I see?"

"You're scaring me, Auden." Despite herself, she looked closer. It was the portrait of an older women in a big, old-timey dress. Immediately, her eyes were drawn to the woman's eyes which had been cut out. She gasped at something so obviously out of place. "Wh-Why do you think it's like that?"

"I have no idea. Maybe someone didn't like her. We're clearly missing a lot of context."

"C'mon, let's keep going before I lose my nerve."

He paused for a bit longer and then continued. All the while, she felt like someone was watching them. She started to look back more and more often, but nothing was ever there. Maybe the haunting had already begun. Maybe the ghosts were already following them.

"Calm down, Bulma," he said after a while, "Our senses can easily be fooled and when we're scared, we're even more susceptible."

"I'm not scared," she argued back in a whisper.

He didn't respond, but she got the message. In the distance they heard a loud creak and it sounded exactly like a heavy footstep. Bulma quickly shined her light to where she thought the sound came from, but she saw nothing. A brief wind slid across her face and she jumped away from it.

"Okay, that had to be a footstep, right?" she whispered frantically.

"Possibly." He said still making slow progress forward.

"Possibly?"

The floor they'd been walking on felt quite solid. Aside from the rubble, this didn't seem like the sort of floor to make noises.

"It's not impossible for other people to be here too—they're more likely to be here than ghosts."

"Who in their right minds would want to stay here?" She made sure she continued to be right behind him slightly to his right shoulder.

"It's a dry place, safe from the elements and most of all free. If you didn't have to place to stay, this wouldn't be such a bad place to be."

"Oh," she said after a moment when she realized what he was getting at. Bulma didn't often think of things like that. When the going got tough, there was always a capsule handy.

She heard another creak and this time she stopped since it seemed closer.

"C'mon," he said quickly as he pulled her over into a nearby room.

The door was off its hinges, but at least they were out of the hall. She held her breath when he eventually peeked around the corner to see anything.

"See something?" she asked. _Please say no…_

"Nothing. But I have a feeling people do live here. Could have just been an old house sound, but let's be a bit more cautious."

"I don't get it," Bulma said as she watched him stand up.

He glanced back at her questioningly.

"Why aren't you scared? You took that way too well. Are you in on all this or something?"

He seemed annoyed with her, shaking his head as if it was obvious. "I don't have the luxury of being afraid of imaginary things."

"They're real," she insisted.

"There's one thing I've always been afraid of though." He was looking at her now; he had her full attention. "When I think about how little control I have over my life, it frightens me more than anything else."

"Control? What do you mean? We always have to put effort into anything we do. We choose how our lives will end up being."

"But why do you think the way you think? Why do you hold the values you do? We're largely shaped by DNA and our environment. We can't choose what family we're born into. We can't choose our environment in the beginning. They're all things we can't control. When I think about how this all came to be, it gives me chills knowing that the idea that things happen for a reason is completely nonsensical in the face of a reality that simply is. It didn't ask to exist, it simply did and this is how it turned out. We're so tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Time has gone on forever and our lives occur in the blink of an eye."

"Well, I chose to go to the haunted house."

"You chose perhaps, but everything else had to be in place in order for you to do so. Our own free will may well be an illusion. You had to like haunted houses, you had to own a capsule bike which isn't cheap by the way, you had to be able to find out the place existed in the first place. All you did was do exactly as your own reasoning and environment dictated. You were a small piece of the puzzle. Doesn't that…make you scared when you think about it?"

"The way you explain it, it kinda' does. I don't want to believe it. I choose not to believe it. I can't—I don't want to see the world like that because then…"

"Everything is pointless."

Saying it out loud made her stomach queasy. She shook her head as if it would get rid of the thoughts forming in her mind. "I don't want to talk about that right now. We have worse things to worry about now."

"Your ghosts?" he said this time teasingly as she shined her light through the doorway.

"Or anything," she said. "You can't tell me it doesn't feel weird around here."

"It's very quiet here," he admitted. "I'm not used to that. The normal signs of life isn't there aside for all the random creaking noises or things blowing in the wind. Could be footsteps. Could be nothing."

"Let's keep going. We've barely made a dent in this place."

The gloomy darkness was just getting to her. The atmosphere felt heavy. What sort of history did this house have? What sort of secrets, if any, did it hold? Every once in a while, a sharp wind would blow through the place no doubt through broken windows.

"Auden?" she asked when she noticed he wasn't following. Her light turned back to him.

He didn't seem well—one hand pressed against his head and his expression suggested he might have been in some pain. "Sorry, I just feel a little lightheaded. Just give me a moment."

"Alright," she said. "I'm not leaving you. We came here together; we'll leave here together."

"That's nice to know."

Even his voice sounded a bit strained. She flashed her light around the room at overturned furniture and peeling wallpaper. A dusty piano sat in the back, but she was too scared of making sudden sounds to mess around with it. Maybe this was a music room or an entertainment room.

"Alright, let's go," he said after a moment. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"We came all this way here. It would be a shame to turn back now."

Part of her knew that he was just putting on a brave face. One did not get over lightheadedness so quickly. Another part of her was intensely curious. This was all turning out to be much more interesting than a party. Besides, maybe the place was just getting to him. Maybe he was scared, and he didn't want to admit it.

They continued down the long, grand hallway. It was quite wide as if it were made for giants. A few times, they crunched over broken glass. That didn't bother her until she remembered Auden's compromised shoes. There were probably all sorts of nasty things on the floor. When she moved her flashlight down to observe his footsteps, she noticed that he was being very careful and stepping very gingerly—that's why the progress was so slow. When she moved her light up again but slightly to the right when she noticed a stairwell in the distance, she screamed and kept screaming. She grabbed his hand and turned the other way down the hall they'd just been walking.

"What's happening?" he shouted as he struggled to keep up.

She wouldn't let Auden fall and she wasn't going to let go of his hand. "A person creature thing—I saw something and it was looking right at us. It was watching us."

Sure enough, as they ran, she heard much heavier footsteps scrambling behind them. Adrenaline was just beginning to kick in for her and thankfully for Auden as well who was no longer lagging behind. She turned down the next hall she found and down another. They were just running freely now. She took a chance and let go of his hand since it was becoming harder to run like that. She made sure he was nearby the whole time. A strong gust of wind pushed back against them intently as if it had a mind of its own, growing in strength until they couldn't quite move forward anymore. When she swung her light up, she saw something flitting passed. She kept swinging her light trying to get a better view until she saw more white translucent forms descending upon them.

"Auden, look, look! Do you see that?"

Auden turned his light up as well, looking around with heavy breaths. "No, what are you talking about?"

"Are you blind?! Ghosts! And we can't even get away! What are we—

When Bulma heard a hard thump near her, she turned her light to Auden and realized that he'd fainted.

"Auden? Auden!" she cried out now as she tried to wake him up. She dropped to her knees and shook him.

Frantically, she looked up again with her flashlight and the room was empty. The billowing wind had stopped. She couldn't believe it and she kept looking for any little sign. There was a lot of dust and the ceiling seemed far, far away. There must have been at least three floors to this massive house. When she heard movement from Auden, her light turned to him again. With a groan he sat up on his own.

"Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I was just…lightheaded again. All that running wasn't so great for me."

"Do you think it has something to do with this place? Maybe something's gotten to you."

"No," he said shaking his head as he climbed back to his feet. "It has nothing to do with that."

She helped stabilize him when he seemed to stumble.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's alright. Do you think we should turn back?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"You don't seem like it."

"What was all that about ghosts before?" he said changing the subject.

"You really didn't see it? I know I'm not crazy."

"I'll just have to take your word for it. I really didn't see anything."

"What about the footsteps?"

"Those? I think I heard something. I'm not sure."

"Oh my god, Auden. There's such a thing as being too much of a skeptic."

"No there isn't. You're either skeptical or you're not. It was too much happening at once to confirm. I knew you were scared so I just followed your lead. Maybe you did see something. Better to be cautious than sorry."

Bulma flashed her light now up and down the massive hall they were in. There was nothing now. What was going on around here?

"Kind of strange for everything to stop on a dime. Almost like someone messing with us."

"Or they're playing with their food before they eat them. I heard animals like to do that," Bulma said thinking back to a documentary she had to sit through in biology.

"Yeah. Humans. We love hunting for sport."

"Maybe these ghosts are _haunting_ for sport and they're trying to cause a rift between us by having me see them and not you."

"Nice hypothesis," he said with a chuckle. "Now how to go about proving that…"

"Oh, shut-up! Let's stay alert and don't separate, okay? We're in this together."

"Of course. I always consider whatever you have to say even if I don't believe you or come to different conclusions."

"Are feeling well enough to move?"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing."

"I'll take lead then," she said as she started moving.

"Make sure you don't jump at every little thing that moves."

"Shut-up."

The progress was even slower than before and Bulma had no idea where they were. They'd turned down too many halls.

"Hey, do you hear anything out of the ordinary?" she asked after a while of snail progress. She was sure she'd heard distinct footsteps again. The hairs on the back of her neck were sticking straight up and likely wouldn't go down until they found an exit.

"Not really. Just the usual ambient noises. When we're scared, our minds can conjure up many falsehoods to explain something we don't fully understand."

"You're back to that again?"

"It's more plausible than ghosts. But I haven't ruled out that maybe someone else is here."

Another shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the prospect. It excited and scared her. Eventually the fear might overtake the excitement; for now, it was best to move on. Nothing more was happening here.

"I'd rather not have to run anymore. I just don't have the energy for it," he said after a while from behind.

At this, she turned her flashlight back to view him better. He blinked in the brightness. "That definitely doesn't sound like you're okay." She turned her light down a little lower so that it wasn't directly in his eyes. He looked paler than usual.

"I'm just the guy who spends all his time inside reading. I'm not cut out for all this."

"Right," she said turning. "Well, we might have to run again. I'll drag you along if I have to."

He sighed wearily at this but said nothing more on the subject. Even if he didn't want to admit it, there was definitely something wrong with him. Maybe the house was getting to him. Maybe something was making him weaker and it had something to do with why he hadn't seen anything, but she clearly had. No one was going to tell her that it was just some hallucination. She knew what she saw! Who knows? Maybe he was dying. Maybe he was turning into something. She paused once again to take a second look at him just to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"What?" he asked annoyed.

"Nothing," she said studying him and then continuing.

Other than his paleness, nothing else seemed amiss, but she'd have to keep her guard up. She paid close attention to his steps and every other little sound. Why wasn't it quiet? If they were the only ones here, why was there so much noise? She couldn't get the image of the creature out of her mind. It was somewhere prowling.

Suddenly, a door slammed shut a few yards in front of them—she'd watched it close. She jumped back in the same breath into Auden who stumbled a little.

"Okay, I _know_ you saw that. _Someone's there_ ," Bulma said in the quietest whisper she could manage and still have human ears hear her.

"I saw it."

There was a brief feeling of relief knowing she wasn't alone in her observation. "Clearly a ghost!"

"It might have been the wind."

"Are you serious, right now?"

"The wind really can make a door slam shut," he insisted. She had to turn her flashlight on him again to make sure he wasn't just playing around. "My door's done that all on its own before when I had the window open. It probably has something to do with the pressure. It can also open back up on its own if there's enough force. It might even be difficult to open."

"Okay, Einstein, you wanna' go and test out your theory?"

"I'm not _that_ crazy. It could've been someone."

"Exactly!"

The door slowly creaked open again and Bulma was taking off, dragging Auden along with her. She couldn't find anywhere else to go other than a staircase that only went up and eventually they were huffing and puffing up the stairs. She wanted to keep going, but Auden aggressively pulled away from her, managing to get out of her grip.

"I have to stop, geez," he said breathing hard again.

"You're not going to faint again, are you?"

She had her flashlight on him again and he frowned at her. "Why did we run up the stairs? Isn't that away from the exit," he chastised.

"That's the only way I saw!"

"We should have just turned back."

"Back to that other thing? You want to go back then be my guest."

Auden took a moment to straighten himself again. "I am not running anymore," he said stolidly.

"Wait," she said as she looked up when she heard more noise. "Wait," she found herself repeating as she saw translucent white shapes flowing slowly out of the walls nearby. Her flashlight whipped around quickly as she heard a myriad of new sounds. She heard some cackling as well as more misshapen things beginning to appear from the high ceiling and even the floor. "We have to run, we gotta' go! Let's move!"

"I can't!"

"We have to. DO YOU SEE ALL THE GHOSTS!?"

"No," he said breathlessly, "I don't see anything."

"Look, at that!" she said pointing her light towards the largest of them moving tauntingly closer to them.

"There's nothing there, Bulma."

Bulma turned to make sure he was looking in the right spot. His eyes were, in fact, trained on that same area and he seemed none the wiser about the approaching danger. "You're just going to have to trust me!" She grabbed his hand as hard as she could so that he couldn't let go and they were off again.

This time, the apparitions were coming from everywhere and she wasn't sure where to go. She needed to find another stairwell. Maybe another floor would be safer. Auden stumbled and swore behind her, but at least his feet were moving. His protests died out in favor of desperately trying to breath. The solid ground from before now felt less secure. It was as if the top layer was disintegrating revealing wooden flooring that creaked loudly with each pounding step. She was glad to find yet another stairwell at the end of the hall, but it led upwards. She paused and whipped her flashlight around and saw that the entire corridor had come to life. They had to keep going.

They struggled up the stairs that eventually became a narrow straight stairway closed in on either side by grayish walls. If one was claustrophobic, they wouldn't fair well here. The only way to go was up and she couldn't quite see the end yet. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw an opening into what looked like the night sky and a bright Hunter's Moon peeking down at them. It was better than feeling trapped. She found it harder and harder to pull Auden along until he planted his foot down causing her to stumble backwards—she grabbed the railings before she completely lost her balance.

"I…can't…!" he said through heavy breaths.

He was heaving painfully and grabbing his chest. His face was completely red from the effort. Her prepared reprimands died in her throat. When he tried to look at her barely able to hold up his flashlight, his eyes were unfocused.

"Okay, we'll stop for a brief break. But they're still back there. We can't rest for too long."

It took him over a minute to respond though she watched him make a few attempts, his voice simply wouldn't emit—his breathing took priority. "You never listen to me," he whined. "We're just…running for no reason."

"I know what I saw, and you can't convince me otherwise."

"Clearly."

"Now c'mon. If you can talk, you can run."

"Doesn't really follow. One takes far more effort than the other."

"Oh my god, Auden—now's not the time to get pedantic. I'm not leaving you behind, okay? So if you choose to give up than you're making me give up too. You don't want to be responsible for getting someone else hurt, right? We don't have that far to go. We're almost outside."

He seemed somewhat restored as he leaned on the railings. "I don't want to hold you back. Let's keep running around like a couple of idiots."

"That's the spirit," she said with a smile.

He only grimaced in return. Bulma went to grab his hand but he evaded her attempt this time.

"Don't worry. I'll keep up this time. I already skid my knees twice now."

Bulma guided her flashlight down revealing his torn pants and some blood seeping through. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I wasn't thinking!"

"It's just a scratch, but I think I've learned my lesson. Let's get off these stairs already."

Bulma paused for another moment giving him a sympathetic look before continuing upward. She looked back to see if anything was following them. Miraculously, the path was clear. Then she turned back sensing something watching them just out the corner of her eye. But there was nowhere for anything to be hiding. It was a one-way path. Maybe her mind really was playing tricks on her.

Bulma noticed that Auden had a limping gait as she went at a medium pace. Quiet pained noises from each step came at regular intervals. Perhaps he was hoping she wouldn't notice, but it was plainly obvious. He really wasn't in any shape for another chase. Then something flitted past her vision from the limited view they had outside.

"No," she said under her breath.

Then time seemed to slow down as the ill-formed humanoid figure she'd sighted earlier came into her direct line of sight. It was a dark silhouette against a slightly illuminated backdrop. It took her a moment to realize that she was already screaming. She'd knocked Auden out of her way and started back down the stairs. She could hear it coming. She had to go. She had to _go_! Wait, Auden. She twirled around and noticed him struggling to climb back to his feet while the creature had already made shocking progress towards them.

"Fucking run, Auden!" she screamed.

"Bulma, wait, where are you going? Don't leave me!"

His pleading voice stayed her frantic escape. She could make it if she just left him, but he was her responsibility. She was the one who'd brought him out here in the first place. Her heart was beating fast, but she decided to turn back. Her light illuminated her friend expecting to see the monster upon them only to find the path behind him empty again. Nothing was there.

"Bulma, please, there's nothing there. Just listen to me for once in your life."

She kept looking from as many angles as possible as she crept closer back up to his position. The confusion must have been written clearly on her face. "Wh-What did you do? It was there," she said in a shocked whisper.

"Nothing. I didn't do anything other than attempt limping back down these insane stairs."

Her eyes were still looking elsewhere, back and forth to see if there were any telltale signs. "I saw it, Auden. I know I saw it. The footsteps. You have to have heard the footsteps, right."

"I did hear footsteps," he said heavily.

Her eyes widened and she finally looked at Auden now who seemed in far worse condition than before. He really needed to go home and rest. The redness under his eyes were hard to miss and his slow blinking suggested he was either going to faint or fall asleep.

"Light ones from outside. Could have been an animal or something. Maybe a person. Who knows?"

"Better than nothing, I guess. You think we should keep going up?"

"We're almost there and I've had enough of this old, musty air."

Some fresh air might do him some good. With a nod, she took her time making it up the rest of the way. Every other second, she kept looking back to make sure Auden was still following. He seemed like he was in a daze and that he was just going through the motions. Going up a long flight of stairs might not have been his favorite pastime.

Once they were outside, she breathed in the fresh air deeply. They were on a balcony that had a nice view of the dark, ominous woods that sat behind the mansion lit up by the brightest full moon she'd seen in her life. She could see the rustling leaves on the outstretched branches swaying in the infrequent strong gusts of wind. The night had gotten chillier and she shivered just a little. Still, there was a part of her that burned with excitement as her adrenaline was just beginning to ease off. They were safe for now, at least.

When she turned to see what Auden was doing, she found him sitting against the metal bar railings off to the side. She might have thought he was resting if his position hadn't seemed so haphazard.

"Auden?" she called out in alarm.

When he didn't respond, she knew he must have fainted again. What was that all about anyway? Was the house really doing something to him? There had to be a reason he wasn't seeing anything or else he was blatantly lying to her to get on her nerves—she wouldn't put it past him.

An old woman cackled behind her and Bulma gasped as she turned on her heels towards the sound. It was a tiny old woman with silvery blue hair winking at her in amusement from under her tall witch hat.

"Hey! What's so funny, old lady?"

"Oh, don't mind me. I was just having a little fun with you kiddies!" The woman could barely contain her laughter.

"What did you do?"

"I just placed a charm there and a charm here. I couldn't resist! You two were looking for trouble, weren't you? You should have seen the look on your face, sweetie. Tonight's the perfect night, don't you think?"

"Wait, it was you the whole time playing a prank on us? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Oh hush, kiddie. I did you a favor. This is a favorite haunt for criminals and the homeless. I scared off the nasty ones. Now why in the world would you risk coming out here of all places all by your lonesome?"

"Well," she said haughtily as she realized that the woman was making a lot sense, "It's Halloween!"

"It is indeed. It is indeed."

Bulma glanced over at Auden to see if he'd awakened yet. He seemed in the midst of rousing himself. It had definitely been another fainting spell.

"What did you do to him?" Bulma said pointing to her friend.

"Nothing at all, sweetie. All I did was have a little fun. You seem like a thrill-seeker, girl. I bet you ate it all up."

"So it was all an illusion?"

"Well," the old lady said drawing out the word, "It was real to the person who experienced it."

"Do they…" Bulma began in conspiratorial tones, "Do ghosts really exists?"

"They don't," Auden said in irritation from behind. "At least, I don't believe they do."

Bulma turned to him angrily. "Oh shut-up! Nobody asked you!" She stuck a tongue at him for good measure.

The old woman began laughing again. "You two make quite the duo. I adore it. It's been a while since I've been near such vibrant personalities."

"Vibrant? That guy is a doorknob. I have to drag him outside every now and then before he turns into a statue."

"You're being way too dramatic," he complained.

"By the way, you still haven't told me what you did to him. He didn't see any of the ghosts. Was that just you trying to be funny again?"

"My magic is fear-based, dearie. Its strength is directly proportional to how much fear is in your heart. Everyone is scared of something. Even your friend over there. If I completely stripped him of what little control he has, my magic would work wonders on him."

"I've never heard of anything so made up in my life. Fear-based? It just sounds like you're making excuses."

"Auden!" she said in warning as she turned to him. "I wouldn't push her if I were you."

Auden, already standing once again, looked at her unmoved by her comment. "I will not be forced to listen to this quackery as if it's real."

"I love your spirit, young man. It takes a mind like yours to truly understand the intricacies of magic use—it isn't for everyone and it requires long study." The woman turned to look at Bulma. "It's clear to me that your friend is malnourished from days of inadequate nutrients."

"What?" Bulma asked startled. When she looked at Auden, he turned away in embarrassment.

"That's why he's been fainting. I hope I gave you the fun and adventure you were looking for, young lady. May you remember this day, many years to come. Very few people can say they got to go through a haunted house done up by a true witch such a myself! As for you, young man, I'll give you this. Hold out your hand."

"Huh?" he asked confused.

"Just do it, Mr. Know-It-All," the woman said seemingly losing patience.

Bulma suspected that he followed orders out of respect to the elderly. Once he did this, a book appeared in his hand and he visibly jumped at the sight of it. The woman chuckled at this.

"That is the first book I was given when I began my long journey in learning magic all those years back. It feels like a lifetime ago. Through careful study, you might find your mind change about magic and its existence."

"It…seems like something really important to you. Maybe you should keep it and give it to someone truly interested."

"No, I've made my choice, boy. Keep it. It's for your eyes only. Maybe one day, you might thumb through the pages."

"Okay," he said as he finally grasped it in his hands. He didn't even attempt to open it.

The woman began cackling again at her own private joke. "Alright, kiddies, I think I've had my fun tonight on this Halloween—it's already the next morning and I need my beauty rest!"

"Wait!" Bulma said as the woman turned from them. "What's your name?"

"Oh my, where are my manners? I'm Meredith, The Witch of Illusion and Clairvoyance. Perhaps we'll meet again one day."

In the blink of an eye, she vanished into thin air and Bulma stared in amazement. She felt the air shift around her and before she knew it, she was back at her bike again. She panicked when she didn't see Auden right away, but he was just out of her line of sight to the side of her.

"Now what do you make of that?" Bulma asked teasingly. "We met a real witch! We should have asked to get our fortunes told. Auden?"

He seemed in shock as he looked around himself.

"See? Mind blown, right?"

"No," he said shaking his head. Now it was his turn to panic. "No, there has to be an explanation for this. There has to be!"

"Yeah. Magic."

He turned to look at the dark mansion once again and he seemed to be lost in thought as he didn't bother answering her back.

"C'mon, let's go back home. We'll figure all this out later."

"Yeah," he said after another long pause. "You're right, I'm getting dizzy just from standing."

She looked at him when she was reminded of what Meredith said earlier and he seemed to notice what she was thinking as he chose this time to look away from her with flushed cheeks. With a sigh, she climbed on the bike and he followed in suit this time without much provocation.

"We're getting you something to eat."

"No, it's not that serious."

"You were falling out after just a short run. How long has this been going on?"

"It's not like that. I-I just get distracted with studying a lot."

Bulma turned to look at him from her seat. It was then that she realized that Auden had quite the poker face perfect for lying. How many times had he lied to her and she hadn't noticed? Still, it was plausible that he'd disregard eating with his all-important studying. It was plausible, but it could still be false.

"Please, just take me home. Could you do that for me? I don't have the energy to keep arguing with you."

Her eyes softened at this. "Alright," she said giving in. "But if I see you again and you haven't improved, I'm getting you something to eat."

"Okay," he said barely above a whisper.

"Put the book in the pouch over there," she said pointing to the back of the bike.

He obliged and soon she was speeding off. Getting back seemed faster than going out there in the first place. Somehow though, it was still enough time for Auden to doze off on her back. Gone was the awkwardness from before. It seemed he was too tired to keep that up. She knew it didn't mean anything, but she still got a warm feeling both in her stomach and groin as she felt his gentle breaths against her and his hands resting in her lap with a loose grip around her waist. The moment was broken when he started snoring, however. _Get it together, girl!_

She drove slower knowing that he wasn't attentive. She leaned forward as well so that his weight would shift towards her. It was quite the balancing act, but she felt that it was the least she could do. She had to rouse him once they got there in which he proceeded to stumble off the bike. Getting one leg over the seat was far more trouble than it needed to be; she ended up helping him do it just then remember his injured knees.

"I could stay and get that bandaged up."

"That's alright. I know how to wrap a bandage."

"And don't forget your book."

He didn't seem all that enthused about it as he grabbed it from storage. "Yeah, can't wait to dig into this one," he said sardonically.

"Well, I think it's a one-of-a-kind book and you'd be an idiot if you didn't at least skim through it."

"Right," he said unconvinced. "I guess I'll see you in school then. Good night. Don't ever ask me to do this again."

Bulma smiled at this. "I'll try!" After a brief wave, she revved up the bike and began through the parking lot towards her house.

Exhaustion was just beginning to get to her as she capsulized her bike. The time was over half an hour after three in the morning. It wasn't often she'd stay out this late. The lights were off in the house and she kept it off as the mere thought of dealing with bright lamps was giving her a headache. She took a quick shower and switched into her pajamas.

"I hope he's okay," she said to herself.

There was no way to call him and even if she did, he probably wouldn't tell her everything. He never told her everything. She could tell that he didn't want to be a charity case, but she couldn't help wanting to splurge on him every waking minute. Despite herself, she pulled out her phone and called up the nearest late-night fast-food restaurant that was still open. She offered a generous tip to anyone who could make a speedy delivery to a specific address. With that out of the way, she could finally rest without worry. Surely, he wouldn't turn down free food at his doorstep.

* * *

**PRESENT DAY:**

Halloween wasn't what it used to be. Her kids were grown and kids didn't trick-or-treat as much. It was all about dressing up and going to parties. Not that it hadn't been like that before, but now it seemed even more so. Maybe it was just her. Maybe she was just getting old. She'd thrown her own party, inviting everyone she knew from her job to personal life. Her place was big enough for it. Paparazzi had been there as well just to remind her that she was, in fact, considered a celebrity. Vegeta saw to them swiftly.

She found herself thinking back to the haunted house she'd dragged Auden out to another lifetime ago back when she didn't fully understand the definition of personal space. For years, their paths diverged far away from each other, but now she was back in touch with him. If he had his way, they'd never reconnect. The thought alone made her a little sad. His impression of her was so abysmal that he'd be fine with never seeing her again. Had she been _that_ bad?

He'd been invited to the party this time, but, of course, he didn't come. Auden didn't do crowds especially not of unfamiliar faces. Now that Aster was no longer there to nudge him out of his shell somewhat, he was even more of a hermit these days. He never answered his phone. He'd made it clear that he hated surprise visits from her. He just wanted to be left alone, but that felt like the worst thing for him right now. Was she being too pushy again? Was she just making things worse trying to talk to him at all?

Wait! It was the same Halloween that they'd gone to the mansion. At least this year, it happened to fall on a Saturday just like it had before. In her opinion, it was the best day for Halloween. Having it in the middle of the week always felt awkward. Maybe for old time's sake she'd check out the mansion again. Not go in—she was too old for those kinds of shenanigans and much too tired from today's toils of hosting a major party. She just wanted to drive to the entrance and reminisce. That sounded peaceful actually. Maybe she was turning into Auden after all wanting some time to herself.

She'd been leaning on the railing of her balcony peering up at the full moon. A bout of déjà vu had struck her when she'd first stepped outside. It had been the full moon on that day as well—the Hunter's moon, the second full moon of that month. Having all of that happen at once was quite a rarity. Clearly it was a sign. Already she could see Auden's unamused look with her "magical" thinking. Of course, these things were scheduled to happen at a certain time and it just so happened to be tonight. Still, the circumstances felt a little…spooky.

When she stepped back inside her bedroom so that she could make her way downstairs to the entrance, she noticed her sleeping husband make a movement in bed. Always alert, he must've known that she wasn't in bed with him right now and likely pretending to still be asleep.

"Vegeta, I'll be going out for a little while. Don't worry."

He didn't respond quickly and for a moment she thought she'd mistook his wakefulness. "Don't do anything stupid," he said wearily from under the covers. He left it at that.

"Promise."

Bulma had long since come to terms with the fact that Vegeta knew where she was at all times of the day. There was no sneaking up on him, there was no surprising him (at least on her own). He was connected to her in ways she couldn't fully understand. It made her feel safe from danger. If anything went wrong, screaming was all she needed to do and he'd be there unless you were Laputa who could hide ki signatures, but that was an outlier situation.

Instead of a bike, she climbed into a hover car that was already out in the driveway. It took her a little longer than usual to find her way, but eventually her memories kicked in when she found the proper road that led to the lonely mansion near the forest. She'd never gone back to research who could have owned this place in the past, wanting to keep the mystery alive. It wasn't important knowing such information. Whoever it had been, they had long been lost to time just like they all would in due time. Leave it up to Halloween to put her into a somber mood.

She noticed with a start that another car was there, and she knew it immediately to be Auden's. The license plates matched as well.

"Well, well, looks like we both had the same idea. I wonder what brought him here tonight," she said out loud to herself.

The coincidences were starting to stack up causing a delightful shiver down her spine. It was possible that she was even braver than she had been in the past. The tall black gate was parted the same way it had been before—it hadn't moved in the slightest and, if anything, had become even more firmly in place. She had brought her flashlight as well, but even without it, she could see passed the dried fountain to a figure that was sitting at the foot of the large, grandiose stone stairs leading into the foreboding pitch black entrance. It was well lit where he sat. He had a large outside light stand and as she stepped closer, she noticed a comfortable looking blanket large enough for quite a few people and a very elaborate cooler. He must have had a picnic out here in the middle of nowhere by himself. Auden was nothing if not strange. Then again, she was here as well. At least he had something to entertain himself with. He was clearly reading something in his lap, but he wasn't wearing any eyeglasses. Casually, he took a few sips of water from a perspiring water bottle nearby.

She stepped noisily so that she wouldn't startle him too much. He looked up eventually not the least bit frightened in standard Auden-fashion.

"Bulma?" he said a little confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question."

He looked back at the mansion as she stood nearby silently. It was then that she noticed that nearly half of the building had fallen down into rubble. "Geez, what happened to the place?"

"Rain, wind, and time probably. The foundation is finally crumbling. One day, it won't be here at all and the forest will overtake it."

"I don't know why, but…that kind of makes me sad."

"All things come to an end sometime. Isn't that the lesson we're supposed to be learning from Halloween?"

"Yeah, I guess. I don't like to think about it."

"Tonight just felt special and I didn't want to be inside at the moment," he said answering her previous question. "Among other things."

"Well, I'd say the same. I was just thinking about this place. Then I saw the full moon and realized what day of the week it was…"

"I noticed that too not too long ago."

"Spooky, right?"

Auden chuckled at this. "If you allow yourself to read into coincidences, sure."

Bulma smirked at this. She wondered when he was going to offer her a seat. "Whatcha' readin'?"

"Foundational Magic, Volume 1. That book the witch gave me. Thought it'd be fitting to dive into that infernal book in honor of Meredith."

"So you still have it. I knew it! When I asked to get it from you later, you told me you'd lost it."

"I had. I couldn't find it where I last placed it and I searched everywhere. It was gone. Then today, I found it again in my desk drawer at home."

"You say that so calmly like that wasn't some weird magic stuff going on."

"It was definitely weird at the time. When I saw that book, I thought about this place again and decided to pay a visit."

"You were…beckoned here," she teased.

"Possibly. I can't rule anything out."

"Woh, the old Auden wouldn't even acknowledge the supernatural."

"I'm not that person anymore and I'm sure you've changed as well."

"Hey, are you going to invite me to sit with you or what?"

He sighed. "Interrupting my solitude—that part of you hasn't changed."

"Oh my god, am I really annoying you?"

"It's fine, Bulma," he said wearily, "You're already here and it would be rude to not invite you. It takes me a moment get used to company if I wasn't expecting it in the first place. Don't mind the attitude."

Bulma took the time to take off her boots and then sat down on the soft blanket. She decided after a moment that she'd lay down on her back since the blanket was long enough for that.

"If you were thinking of going in, I'm not doing it. Go find some other pushover."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't dare. You really think I'm still that reckless?"

Auden shrugged at this. "To tell you the truth, I'm being a reckless myself sitting out here like this. I never told you this before, but I like haunted houses and the idea of encountering spooky things within always entertained me. I was a little disappointed that I never got to see the same things you saw; I didn't allow myself to fully engage in the moment."

"Well, I'm glad that you didn't. Who knows how far Meredith was willing to go? We were her entertainment for the night. Someone needed to have a clear head."

"The more I think about her the scarier she seems. What was she doing out here anyway? Why terrorize a couple of impressionable kids?"

"She definitely had a few screws loose," Bulma agreed.

They were quiet for a while after and she didn't feel the need to disturb the peace. Instead, she listened to all the wildlife around. The crickets and cicadas sounded like they were just inches away. Every once in a while, she could hear the flutter of old pages being turned.

"Makes me feel really nostalgic," she said quietly.

"Things were simpler back then, weren't they?"

"Well, a lot happened to me since then. I've seen things that would make our little romp through the haunted house seem like child's play. And I became a wife and a mother, a businesswoman—oh," she said stopping herself.

He glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, I didn't want to sound like I was bragging or anything."

"It's perfectly fine. Those things are true. Things have changed a lot for you since then."

"Yeah," she said relaxing once again.

"When I was that age, I used to think I knew more than the average person and was smarter than everyone else. I would look down on everyone pretending to be better as a defense against how my peers really saw me. I was 'enlightened', I thought. A wise person would have realized that they know almost nothing and that there is always someone out there who can do what you do better. When I stopped assuming I knew everything, I started to learn again. That's still my favorite pastime even if I don't have as much time to do it. If I could spend my days always learning new things, I think I'd be the happiest person alive—or close to it anyway."

"What's so important about learning things?" she asked before she could bite her tongue. At least it was better than lamenting his daughter all the time. Whatever he took joy in would be fine with her—it just sounded so…simplistic. Shouldn't he want something more?

"That's the thing. Nothing is important until we make it so. We create meaning where there is none. That same question could be applied to anything. Why is anything important? The answer is that it makes life worth living. And there is so much I don't know and never will know."

Bulma let his words wash over her. On a night like this, it was perfect. The mixture of nostalgia and thought-provoking sentiments was strange and fitting. A thought came to her mind. "Did you get the food delivery I sent you?"

"I did," Auden said already knowing what she was referring to. "It was quite the ending to the night trying to bandage myself up because I was too prideful to accept your help. My hands weren't exactly steady and I kept falling asleep. I was trying to keep everything sanitary but failed miserably at it. That knock on the door scared the shit out of me. I supposed it was a nice wakeup call though," he laughed. "Anyways, I didn't even make a fuss. I didn't question anything. I just accepted it because the smell of hot food was dizzying. I'm glad you weren't there to see me tear into everything like some kind of animal."

Bulma laughed at the imagery. "That would have been fun to see actually. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Maybe being stubborn and pushy has its merits."

"Sometimes," he agreed. "Forget the studying goals I'd had that day. I slept like a baby until the next afternoon and I was sore all over. So after I got home after our little adventure, I did nothing else of import for the rest of the weekend. I hope you know I wasn't nearly as ahead as I'd wanted to be, come the following day of school."

"Good," Bulma said with a smile. "It sounds like you really needed the time to recover. It wasn't that rough for me. I was a hundred percent as soon as I woke up again sometime in the afternoon. And I also had a fun little breakup with my boyfriend later on."

"Sounds tiring."

She laughed. "It needed to be done and I was glad I got it over with quickly. I still want to read that book, by the way."

"Well, I have it right here," he said offering it to her.

"No, I'll let you finish."

"Please, I was just reading just to be reading. I'm not really understanding anything at the moment."

Slowly, Bulma sat back up. She couldn't remember it ever being so difficult to do such an easy activity. Nothing like lying on the hard, flat ground to remind one of their age. He held the book out to her. When she grabbed it from him, she felt a sharp burning sensation in her fingers, and she snatched her hand back letting the book fall to the ground. "Ah! What the hell?" she shook her hand vigorously.

"What happened?" he asked in wonderment. He went to go take up the book.

"Don't touch—

But nothing happened when he touched it. He looked at her curiously. "Are you hurt?"

"I got burned. Maybe it's some protection spell."

"You have it all worked out in your head already, huh," he said amused. "Meredith must have done something to the book."

"And maybe it has something to do with it vanishing when you were about to let me borrow it."

"She did say it was for my eyes only. I remember that distinctly because I thought it was odd. Why single one person out like that? Anyone with eyes could read it, right?"

"It has to be a spell," she said confidently.

"Let's try this. I'll open the book and you read."

She peered over now as he flipped to the first page. She was waiting for him to flip again when she saw that it was blank until he kept it there for ages.

"Stop playing around, Auden, it's blank."

"Blank?" he asked confused. "I'll read it out loud then—the words right on the page."

When he started reading, it sounded exactly like gibberish. It could have been words, but it stopped short and turned into something meaningless at every utterance. "Wait, stop. What are you even saying?"

"I'm saying…"

There was more gibberish and then Bulma cut him off again. "I won't be able to learn the contents of that book unless maybe you paraphrase, but you said you don't really understand what you're reading."

"I don't. It's like a textbook. It starts out describing something nonsensical using vocabulary I've never seen before and then the explanation goes nowhere. The punctuation is there but the sentences don't make any sense. It's a little dizzying to be honest and then I just kept going looking for any discernible meaning something to make it all make sense. It feels like something beyond my comprehension strangely enough."

"Something beyond your comprehension? Geez, I don't stand a chance."

"There's a term that keeps repeating: mindforce. It must be important somehow. And, I also found something else interesting."

Bulma watched as he placed the book on the ground while turned to a certain page—it looked like it was midway through the book. After he pulled his hand away nothing happened. When she glanced at Auden, however, she noticed his eyes were still trained on the book. Something was there that she couldn't see. It was an eerie feeling.

"If I'm right, eventually it should—

The two outward pages began to lightly illuminate. Fascinated, she leaned a bit closer to get a better look. The intensity of the light increased slowly and then suddenly ramped up until it blinded her. When she was able to see, she found herself elsewhere.

She couldn't stand, she was simply there. It only took her a moment to realize that she was back in her house, but something felt different. In the large kitchen, her mother was chopping onions and then a small white robot with tiny scissor hands zipped through the entrance straight for her. Bulma thought that it was just some CC bot that been created for home use. When it started ripping wantonly into her mother's back and the bloodcurdling screams could be heard as she struggled in vain against it, she knew it was anything but. She wanted to yell for help, anything. She didn't want to watch her own mother be…Where was Vegeta? She was shown another scene of her father facing the same fate along with Bra. Then she saw herself. It was too much blood, it was too much death. What was she seeing? She knew something must have happened to Vegeta if he wasn't there already making quick work of the bots. She was missing a lot of context. All she knew was that her entire family was in danger. Then she heard a crumbling noise. Up above, the ceiling was caving in. That was when she found herself back outside sitting next to Auden as if all was well.

She yelped in surprise. "What happened?" Auden seemed to come to just as she had a few moments later.

"A glean into the future," Auden said as if he heard her question. "Remember when you said you wanted the witch to do some fortune telling—well, I think that's how you do it with the book. It was the only part so far that made even an inkling of sense. What's wrong?"

He must have noticed her wide-eyed panic as he'd turned to look at her. "It was…horrifying what I saw. Everyone was dying. I don't—I don't want that future."

"Oh, Bulma, I'm so sorry. There's no way to verify anything that we saw. No one can really know the future, even fortune tellers say that. So maybe you were missing the full picture or it doesn't happen at all."

"I appreciate your attempt at comforting me, but I think I'll use this information to my advantage. I've been through much worse anyway. If I already know what might happen, it can more easily be averted. Nothing's set in stone."

"Exactly."

"What did you see?"

"Well," he began slowly as his eyes looked up to the sparkling full moon. "I was somewhere far, far away, maybe on another planet—the environment felt so foreign. I saw several children and perhaps they're my own, I'm not sure and everything feels so welcoming…like a home. And wherever it is, it's sweltering with dry heat." He turned to look at her again. "It seemed like complete fantasy."

"Mines felt surreal too."

Bulma sat back down on the blanket again rummaging over the troubling vision she'd had. If there was even one ounce of truth to this, then Earth was in trouble. It made Vegeta's attempts to prepare more Earthlings to defend their own planet seem even more pertinent. Admittedly, even she thought that he was on a foolhardy endeavor, but they were only getting older and they wouldn't be around forever. More people would have to step up to the plate eventually or Earth might not last very long. Space was vast and full of powerful aliens that might wish their little peaceful planet harm.

They stayed out there longer and Bulma didn't even bother looking at the time. Instead, she listened to the soft rustle of paper being turned and gazed up at the dazzling orb in the sky. This was perfect, this was what she'd been looking for all day. To end a day like this felt almost magical. She was teleported back in that moment of time when life had indeed been simpler. Little did the girl of her memories know the path that life would lead her on. It was bittersweet seeing that time had passed so quickly. Somehow, she knew that her path would once again drift away from Auden. Whatever he wanted out of life, she hoped that he found it. She'd found her own happiness besides; the trouble was always in how to keep it that way.


	14. To Train or Not to Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auden is presented with a pivotal decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SUGGESTED PEDOPHILIA IN THIS CHAPTER--NOT GRAPHIC, BUT SPOKEN ABOUT

"No, Auden, just stay home. I can handle it from here," Vegeta found himself saying for the third time.

Vegeta had been poring over the document that Auden had given him and even he didn't know about everything that was covered there. If he somehow thought Bulma was pure and innocent before, this was strong evidence that she wasn't. Either that or she had no idea what CC was into and that seemed out of character for her. She was able to afford her family a high level of prestige and safety because her company—which was now Trunks'—had nearly every single key person in their pocket and a foot on their necks. There was evidence of election meddling, corruption, and putting their competitors out of business to ensure that they remained a monopoly. With CC around, it would be difficult for any other business in technology to have a strong foothold and if they did, CC was there to snuff them out every time. Bulma was ruthless if she didn't have an issue with any of this. He shouldn't have been surprised. It would take a woman like that to give him the time of day.

All this talk about him becoming a "better" more "civil" person and it seemed Bulma hadn't changed at all. These things mentioned in the document were ongoing and recent. He wondered if Trunks even knew. He wondered if he should show him. He certainly didn't want to show Bulma and risk it all being mysteriously erased. Then again, she'd be up against Auden himself if she really wanted the whole thing to disappear and something told him that Auden was well versed in keeping things hidden. Bulma was a brilliant scientist, but it was very likely that he was far more proficient with computers considering how easily he was able to find all this highly classified information.

It was better that they continued being open and honest with one another. It would feel like he was going behind her back if he showed Trunks before her. Of course, there was the added benefit of knowing that the document would likely be safe if Auden had the original. There was another thing—he'd told Auden that he would only show Bulma relevant information about Jensen. Well, he had to keep his word…

Auden called him with the final piece of the puzzle—Malachi. To be honest, investigating CC was a red herring, but one would have to go down all avenues to arrive at the correct one. Vegeta had rightly assumed, however, that CC would never put its founding family in danger. Auden was not too certain of that which made sense since he was someone from the outside looking in. From Vegeta's understanding, Dr. Connor Murran became obsessed with Malachi or had always been obsessed, Vegeta wasn't sure, and then was able to analyze his bloodwork in which he found several curious anomalies which he did several experiments on. After realizing the potential of his findings which could enhance human capabilities, he decided to produce a new drug which was purported to increase energy levels. He tried over and over again to get it approved by the proper overseeing entities that ensured quality and he failed each time. It was an unstable substance with questionable results. Then he took things into his own hands and hired people to discreetly distribute his new drug into various manufacturing hubs which eventually made it out to the masses. Jensen was taken so that he could obtain more data since he was Malachi's direct heir, and likely had similar anomalies.

Dr. Murran had clearly lost his mind and he was Malachi's personal physician. That fact raised a lot of red flags in Vegeta's mind. He had his own private lab out in the middle of nowhere on the tip of a peninsula not far from West Capitol. This was likely where he had Jensen, drugged and unconscious and ripe for experimentation. Seemed, after Malachi's death, his tendencies to bend the rules had only gotten worse. Vegeta would simply take Jensen back. As for the doctor, well, there were some questions that he wanted to ask him, but after that, he didn't really care. He supposed the correct thing to do would be to get the authorities involved to take him to jail, but…that would probably get pretty messy and outside people might start digging in the wrong places. Bulma would hate that. Perhaps it was better just to eliminate him.

He was still on the phone with Auden trying to convince him that he didn't have to do anything further, but the man wouldn't take no for an answer. He was obviously quite passionate about all of this and Vegeta didn't blame him. Vegeta just didn't see why he needed anyone else's help.

"I didn't tell you all of this just so you can go and leave me behind. I have a few questions I want to ask the doctor."

"So do I."

"I didn't put everything into that document, by the way. Of things I wasn't sure about, I kept it out. I could confirm other suspicions I have about him."

"It's obvious that he was the one who had your daughter killed. You don't need to ask him about that." He'd stated that rather plainly and he wondered immediately after if he was being just a little too brusque.

"Yes, I know," he snapped. "There are other things I want to ask. Are you on my side or are you trying to get in my way?"

Vegeta paused when he asked that question. It felt almost pivotal this moment. If he was ever going to gain his trust, then he had to trust him in kind. He wasn't sure if training him was still even on the table, but this likely would bring him closer to a time when he might agree.

"Fine," Vegeta said, "I'll take care of Jensen and you can deal with the good doctor."

"It'll take me a couple hours to get there, but I plan on leaving now."

"I'll see you eventually then."

Vegeta wouldn't be waiting for Auden to arrive. He was certain he could get everything done in a matter of minutes. He could even take care of the doctor as well. It was tempting, but he knew that would ruin any sort of progress he'd made with Auden. It would be a shame that someone with ki on par with that of a Super Saiyan and beyond never realized their full potential. Of course, he was human and there was no way that Auden wouldn't tire out first before accessing all of his ki. That would always be an obstacle for any human—how long could their bodies holdout in the presence of ki? Vegeta often took it for granted that one's ki matched the wearer's ability to bring it forth and maintain it, but apparently that wasn't the case. For Malachi, his lack of ki held him back. For Auden, an overabundance of ki became too overwhelming to properly use. There seemed to be an imbalance and it was naturally occurring among humans. The ones who didn't have that problem suffered from mediocrity and would reach a plateau that they could never breach which was the case for all the other human warriors he'd known.

Vegeta sped off into the sky towards the lab. It was situated on a strip of land that rose into a steep cliff that dropped sharply into the surrounding ocean—an oceanfront lab. Admittedly, it was a relaxing setting for such a despicable place. He'd probably chosen it on purpose because it was so isolated, and he could go outside to destress. His time of stupidity was now coming to a close. Vegeta would make sure he wouldn't be able to continue his half-baked experiments. He could sense one person inside. That was likely the doctor. Very faintly he sensed another and it was likely Jensen. He was clearly still unconscious. Their locations were far enough part that he could deal with them separately.

Vegeta strolled right through the front door and made his way down pristine halls, and lab rooms. He found a room in the far back which seemed to be the right one. The door was closed and apparently unlocked since he turned the knob with ease. He expected to see a bed and Jensen hooked up to machines. Instead, he found a large cylindrical metal container with white strips on the top and bottom portions. A keypad sat in the front that slanted up into a bright LED screen.

"Great," Vegeta said under his breath.

He had no idea how it even opened. Would destroying it be sufficient or would he be putting Jensen's life in danger in the process? He stepped over to the terminal and began pressing the arrows to see what changed on the screen. There seemed to be different modes of reading vitals. Judging from those measures, he appeared to be in an induced coma. The more menus he parsed through, the more he just wanted to rip it open. There was an unlocking mechanism, but it required a code. He didn't feel like trying to get it out of the doctor.

He stood for a while indecisive, all the while making sure the doctor was still far enough away. He pressed a few buttons to look at other options when the screen suddenly locked and an alarm went off. With a groan, he turned as he heard the door from before slipping open—security bots. They were of the same model that Bulma had created for his training. They'd simply been repurposed. He shouldn't be surprised since Bulma had long since put these out on the market for certain vendors, but it was disconcerting nonetheless seeing something that he knew that she'd worked on helping to keep Jensen locked away in a metal container.

Vegeta took them out with ease. A few ki blasts later, they were sputtering on the floor. The doctor, however, was moving away rapidly. He ran through the building and found his fleeting form.

"Sorry, doctor, but you're staying right here!"

The man gasped as he turned to his voice and he stumbled and fell. Vegeta took his time walking to him as the doctor scrambled desperately to get back to his feet. He was a little overweight and he was quite scared—a terrible combination if one was trying to get away quickly. Vegeta pounced on him just as he was able to get to his feet and swiftly knocked him out. He pulled the man over his shoulder and looked for a suitable room to store him. Obviously, it wouldn't be a lab, but somewhere small and insulated—an office. He found one eventually and set him in the chair. Then he searched around for some string or rope. He made do with some surgical string and tape and began to secure him tightly to his rolling office chair. There was no way he'd be able to get out on his own unless he was some kind of escape artist and that was highly doubtful.

Meanwhile the alarm was still going off and Vegeta had no idea how to turn it off. The sharp noises were just starting to give him a headache. He grunted in discomfort. He blasted each visible sound device until the flashing lights were no more. The alarm was likely still going off though. The terminal for the metal container holding Jensen was still locked. He wondered how he'd tripped the alarm.

Auden would be here eventually. Vegeta realized that he actually needed him if he was going to do things safely. If he could hack into CC's secure databases, perhaps he could do the same thing here. Instead of Vegeta taking care of things as he'd pictured in his mind, he found himself having to wait. He stood out on the edge of the steeply inclined piece of land, watching angry waves crashing into the bluff, but never quite reaching over the edge.

Vegeta actually had no idea how close Auden was and his impatience was mounting. He grumbled to himself as time began to drag on. Eventually, he sat down and closed his eyes attempting to calm himself. It was always a fruitless task for him. He was never quite calm. He was always on edge at varying degrees. He'd lived a lifetime always wondering what was just beyond the corner, or what was just out of his senses, or what could possibly surprise him. It was etched into his brain always keeping his senses sharp, always searching for any noise, smell, or presence that was out of place. Being still and quiet only led to more stress yet he would sometimes try at times like these to relax. After a while of failing at that activity, he rummaged through the lab gathering important looking papers and putting them into a pile. One by one, he investigated each room meticulously, taking any pertinent documents and material. He went over it a few more times. Once he was done, he used a capsule to store everything. At some point, he checked in on the Dr. Murran who was futilely struggling at his bonds and desperately trying to speak through the duct tape over his mouth.

"Hang tight, doctor. I'll deal with you later."

The man looked like he was about to cry, and he made more indistinguishable noises.

"Your experimentations are over, and I'll be taking all your findings and placing them into more capable hands."

The man became louder, but Vegeta ignored him and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind him for added effect. He began pacing through the lab and pausing in the room holding Jensen for longer periods of time. He did this until he heard a rapidly approaching vehicle far off down the road.

"That better be Auden."

He stepped outside and zeroed in on the car getting closer and closer. With crossed arms he waited by the main entrance. Hidden beneath his somewhat hostile expression was relief. He wouldn't have to drag Bulma out here and the doctor was moments away from getting his just desserts, if not from Auden, Vegeta would finish the job.

He listened as the car parked as close as possible and then his footsteps moving closer, crunching on the gravel.

"Auden," Vegeta said when he was within earshot. Icy blue eyes looked at him intently. "I need you to look at something first before dealing with the doctor. He's already tied up in his office."

"Saves me the trouble of having to do it."

Vegeta snorted at this, "You'd probably have no clue how to do it properly. Follow me."

"I could've made an educated guess," he replied slightly miffed as he followed him.

Vegeta led him down the hall passing the office holding Dr. Murran. It didn't escape him that Auden instinctively looked over to the precise door he was being held. His ki senses were razor sharp considering he'd never met the doctor before, and his signature was so faint. Auden likely already knew where Jensen was.

Vegeta brought him to the terminal which had been locked before. After a while, the alarm had turned off and the screen had gone back to normal. He hadn't touched it again since then just in case he accidently did irreparable damage.

"Can you unlock this thing?"

Auden was already pressing buttons on the pad and the items were already moving too quickly on the screen for Vegeta to even begin to figure out what he was doing.

"Hm, AT Security Systems—pretty basic for a top-secret lab. It was heavily marketed to those who couldn't afford anything too fancy," he said almost to himself. "And it hasn't changed much since back then when I used to steal Wi-Fi from my neighbors."

His fingers moved rapidly until a brief pause as the screen was showing some sort of blue progress bar.

"Should be fine now. At this point, the facial recognition won't start up. Otherwise, we'd be locked out for a couple hours."

"So that's why the alarms went off like that," Vegeta said thinking back.

Auden glanced over at him amused. "You tried a bit of freelance hacking on your own?"

Vegeta scowled at him. "Why the hell would anyone need that for someone who's already unconscious?"

"He was probably being overly cautious, but the way all these security systems are forced down people's throats he must have thought he had a desperate need. In this case, I guess he was right considering what we're doing now."

Once the progress bar hit 100%, a hissing sound could be heard along with white mist seeping from the opening doors of the pod. Jensen was inside with eyes closed and strapped tightly around his neck, arms, hands, and torso. Vegeta made quick work of the straps much to Auden's surprise. Soon, he had the child in his arms.

"I'll take him back home. Don't engage with the doctor until I get back," Vegeta warned Auden who nodded quickly.

"I'll wait for you. I have to get my thoughts together anyway."

"And here I thought you had this all planned out."

"I don't," Auden admitted as he stepped away from him. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm glad you're here."

"Well, don't do anything stupid."

"I'll try."

Vegeta couldn't read him as usual but there was certainly something different about him, something looser, something unpredictable and dark hiding under the surface. Vegeta took off quickly with Jensen in tow. He couldn't afford to leave Auden to his own devices for long. He was liable to do anything. Along the way, he called Bulma and told her that he'd found Jensen, but he still needed some medical care and for her to prepare a bed for him. By the time he got home, everything was setup, and everyone was relieved to see him again. Bulma had brought her grandparents, Pan and Bra along too to be there when he stepped down in the place. Jensen would be in good hands. Bulma would call in one of her trusted at-home nurses to look over his vitals and bring him safely back to wakefulness. He suddenly wished he could stay longer knowing he'd be missing something that they were doing together as a family and it was nice to see just how accepted Jensen was despite his penchant for staying away from the house, but he had to leave. He had to get back to the doctor. He had to finish things for another member of the family who had been lost for too long.

He sped back off into the skies and arrived at the lab in record time. It had been twenty minutes tops since he'd left. When he walked in, he found Auden waiting near the door Dr. Murran was being held.

"That was faster than expected," Auden commented upon seeing him. "I guess flying has its merits."

"Are you ready to get this over with?"

Auden looked at the door as if trying to burn holes into it. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"You plan on killing him, don't you?"

He looked at him with some surprise in his expression, "Yes. After we're done with him, I don't see why he should keep on living."

"You're going to attempt to kill him and then choke at the last minute—I've seen it happen too many times."

"I don't see myself doing that—in fact, it seems like the most straightforward part of this whole thing. Interrogations on the other hand—not so easy."

"I know your type."

"Do you?" he said amused.

"Someone who follows orders and plays by the rules, always trying not to upset people until someone shows them that none of that matters in the grand scheme things—shitty things happen to everyone. You snap. Then you want to take your newfound anger out on something convenient only to realize that you've never killed anyone before and it's a far greater task then just imagining it in your head."

"Very specific type. It doesn't quite describe me."

"So you've killed someone before."

"No, I haven't."

"And yet you think it's so easy to pull off. You have no idea what it would feel like."

"I'm hoping it would feel satisfying."

"But it won't. You'll immediately feel guilty about it. Even I hesitated the first time I was made to take someone else's life and I grew up in a culture in which that was permissible. In fact, it was expected of me. You would do far worse than me especially since you've lived in such a civil society."

"Perhaps you don't fully understand what it means to be 'civil'. It means that we're all pretending everything is alright when it isn't. We suffer in silence and watch as the pain slowly eats away at our sanity. We hold back our emotions and allow the system to take care of things for us. We watch silently as society begins to rot from the inside and watch others die in their secret depression and pain. And we watch as a select few take advantage of it all. We're all just seething under the surface only one tragedy away from exploding."

Vegeta studied his expression closely as he spoke, but still he remained neutral though his voice trembled a little with subtle anger. Perhaps civility wasn't as nice as it sounded at times and perhaps he didn't notice it living in his ivory tower with Bulma all the time.

"Even still, that does not prepare you for what you're about to do."

"And who was your first kill? Was it someone responsible for murdering your family? Did the person singlehandedly take away your reason for living or snatch away the one thing you thought you'd done right in life, the person who'd been there longer than anyone else, the person who you cared deeply about over all others?" he asked heatedly.

His eyes had gotten a little watery and he looked away as if embarrassed to let anyone see.

"No," Vegeta said after a moment. "Perhaps there wasn't so much on the line."

He sniffed and then quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve before chancing a glance his way. "Then maybe your assessment is tad bit inaccurate."

Before Vegeta could respond, Auden opened the door and stepped into the room. To be honest, Vegeta wasn't so great with interrogations either. Since these things tended to happen in times when he was quite emotional, he always ended up killing the person before getting useful information. Maybe it was better leaving it in Auden's hands. It was so easy for Vegeta to finish him off that he was struggling even now to not just blast him to death in that moment especially being in the same room.

Vegeta leaned on the wall near the entrance in full view of Dr. Murran. Auden took it upon himself without being told to snatch off the duct tape from the man's mouth. The doctor cried out in pain until Auden gave him a sharp slap across the face—that shut him up quickly. _It's almost like he's done this before…_ Auden hadn't even said a word yet. He leaned on the desk with his hands pressed against the wood directly in front of Dr. Murran sitting down. Then he brought his arms up to cross them. A full minute passed, and nothing further occurred. Vegeta wanted to yell at the man to continue already, but he held his tongue for the time being. They needed to seem like they were in control and complete agreement with one another.

"Wh-What do you want? I don't have any money here!"

Auden still didn't respond, and the doctor continued to splutter and shake, looking from Vegeta to Auden multiple times. Vegeta was getting more and more impatient.

"P-Please, d-don't hurt me!" Then suddenly he stopped talking.

Vegeta couldn't see Auden's expression but the man was looking up at him fearfully—there must have been something there that truly frightened him.

"Answer my questions to my satisfaction and you might yet survive this encounter."

Dr. Murran nodded vigorously.

Auden's voice was chillingly calm—too calm for such a tense situation. That might have an added layer of terror from the doctor's perspective. It was probably quite disconcerting. Throwing him off his balance—was that the plan with all of this so far? Clearly, he was bluffing about him surviving the encounter. Dr. Murran's life was forfeit the moment Auden discovered his location, but giving captors hope often made them more cooperative. That was easy enough to deduce even by someone who hadn't done anything like this before.

"You were Malachi's personal physician, correct?"

"Y-Yes, I was from the very beginning. I'll tell you anything you want to know about him if that's your angle."

"From what age would you say?"

"Well, he only had an estimated birthdate, but I'd say he was ten or eleven at the time."

"That's quite young. Usually, one would change their doctor once they come of age, but you remained. You insisted that it worked out that way."

"Not only me. His father as well, trusted me with his life."

"Well, let's hope that trust wasn't misplaced."

"It wasn't, I swear. I did all I could for Malachi to keep him in good health for as long as possible."

"I'm sure you think you did, doctor."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Vegeta was already fully invested into this line of questioning. At the moment, Auden seemed focused on Malachi and these were things he'd wanted to confirm with Dr. Murran as well. Auden was doing his job for him.

"How was he when you did your first examination?"

"Oh, he was in bad shape. The orphanage hadn't been a good place for him—stunted growth, terrible hygiene, a lingering cold, emotional issues. But it wasn't just from the orphanage. It was from his adoptive father as well. He'd been living with him for a few months and yet he seemed in poor health. I made sure he received the proper care."

"Had you ever seen anything like that when you first saw Malachi?"

"Not in my practice. Not at all. I have plenty of other high-profile celebrity patients and to see that sort of suffering on such a level was—it took me by surprise. Some of it was easy to treat, but other conditions weren't so easy and I had to refer him to other doctors."

"Do you think he trusted you?"

"He was timid at first. Didn't trust doctors but that was to be expected. By the third visit, I developed a good rapport with the child."

"Better than with your other clients?"

"Well, he was a child and I usually took on adults. He was quite well-spoken, very intelligent, very engaging for one so young."

"You had a certain affection for him."

"Yes, I would say so."

"And how far did that go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you love him?"

"What are you getting at? I _liked_ him as a friend."

"Are you sure it wasn't anything…deeper?"

"I don't know who you think I am, but no self-respecting adult—

"Did you love him? Let me remind you that only satisfactory answers will keep you alive."

Dr. Murran swallowed hard and Vegeta watched him steadily.

"P-Perhaps you could say that I loved him more than what was…professional. In our consultations, we would talk for hours. He'd want to stay with me because he couldn't stand being with his father. And sometimes…I forgot I was talking to a child. If you'd met him at the time, you'd understand! He was isolated and craved affection from anyone who could give it. To have someone so invested in you—do you know how that feels like? He told me everything about himself and I, in turn, did the same. But nothing happened between us, I swear! Nothing weird like that. But I admit that I did love him. I loved him as a child. I loved him even more as an adult. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Vegeta looked at him disgusted and Dr. Murran looked away from him when he glanced his way.

"It's important that we establish your deep affection with Malachi and how long that was the case. I'm glad you never acted on your salacious thoughts while he was a child. That takes quite some restraint, but I would strongly suggest seeing someone about that before you do something regretful."

"It was just with Malachi—he was one of a kind."

"We all think certain individuals are one of a kind until we meet someone else similar enough. It happens, doctor."

Dr. Murran huffed. "I am not some pedo—

"Please, doctor. I think we all know the obvious here. Let's move on. Malachi had a drug problem, didn't he?"

"Not initially, but as an adult, he found other less than safe ways to deal with his ongoing depression and likely repressed memories. There were always holes and inconsistencies with his memories and they began to bother him more and more the older he got. As much as I tried to have discussions with him outside of his psychiatrist at the time, he never really opened up in those regards. And he drifted away from me, spending time with other people who didn't have his best interest at heart."

"He was betraying your trust."

"N-No not betraying so much as not respecting our relationship."

"Maybe you liked him more than he ever liked you."

Dr. Murran frowned at him. "He was a glutton for punishment. He wanted to leave the nest so-to-say as quickly as possible because of his terrible father and experience things way too fast. Emotionally, I don't think he was ever ready for the kind of life he was forced to live due to his fame. He would say that he found enjoyment in it, but at the same time it was damaging to him—physically and mentally. Yet he stopped seeing his psychiatrist claiming that it was a waste of time and that he just wanted to have fun. So he did what he did best and began ignoring the bad parts of himself and pretending as if all was well—even to me. He was forever putting on a performance that would never end. He was forever fooling people into thinking he was better than he really was. It worked out quite well when the lights were shining and the cameras wouldn't leave, but outside of that, it was really quite detrimental to his health."

"Throughout that time, he used recreational drugs to cope."

"He tried to anyway. I wouldn't let him. I made sure he used a higher grade of medication safely whenever he thought it was needed."

"Dr. Feel Good."

"I resent that title!"

"I'm sure he paid you enough money for you to never feel the need to ween him off."

"I couldn't, even though I tried multiple times. He wasn't ready. He would always have the worst withdrawals and then beg me for more."

"You liked that, didn't you?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Him needing you like that. Him seeing you again on a more frequent basis."

"No!"

"Yes!" Auden said losing his cool for just a second. The doctor quieted immediately. "You could have your own special relationship once again with Malachi. You could have him open up to you again whilst you have him completely drugged up and far more pliable."

"I was doing what I thought he needed."

"At some point, he was so severely compromised mentally that he could barely sleep—his brain simply wouldn't allow him to do so. He came to you for help and you wound up killing him instead."

Dr. Murran didn't have a quick response this time. Vegeta watched the obvious signs of a guilty man trying to come up with an excuse. So it was true. Malachi's death was at the hands of his own doctor. His hands tensed up. It would be so easy now just to kill him. This was all he had wanted to know. It wasn't Bra. It was this doctor who should have stopped while he was ahead. Malachi trusted the wrong person with his life. Besides, this was definitely far better than thinking the worst about his daughter and how her actions contributed to his death. Maybe if he'd told Jensen, he might finally forgive her.

"I-I—H-He—Look, I messed up. I wasn't fully informed on the other medication he was already on that didn't work well with the drugs I was giving him to make him unconscious for a short while. I really couldn't help him, but he insisted on me doing the same sort of thing which had been done during his touring. He was so pitiful and it was the dead of night and…he threatened to kill himself more than once. I don't know if he was bluffing or not, but I knew that he was truly desperate for some relief. So I came to salvage the situation. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I should have monitored him closer. I panicked when I saw him flatline—the CPR was all wrong, I didn't want to get in trouble, I thought I could bring him back on my own, but I couldn't. I just couldn't!" Dr. Murran was visibly shedding tears at the moment.

Vegeta crossed his arms now trembling with anger, watching the events unfold in his mind. Malachi completely helpless and his piss-poor doctor failing miserably without enough backbone to tell him no. Was it true, however? Had Malachi truly been suicidal? That didn't seem like him. Why would he want that? He was a fighter, wasn't he? He wasn't susceptible to such thoughts. He simply wasn't.

"I didn't mean for any of that to happen," he blubbered. "Quint helped me cover it all up. He saved my medical license. I'd lost my very best friend that day."

"Somehow, doctor, I don't believe you were all that shaken up about it."

"You can't tell me how I feel like! I was completely distraught. I—had to take many months to myself to even recover."

"Someone who you loved deeply had long since outgrew your affection. He no longer needed it. He'd started a family elsewhere. His heart was far, far away from you, well out of your grasp. You paid him back for his betrayal. You lied to yourself saying you were helping him, but any doctor worth anything knows that if you're actually trying to help someone with drug addiction, you don't give them more of it or easy access. You don't give in to their every whim. Even if it earned you his ire, you were supposed to rehabilitate him. You were supposed to convince him that it was better that he did. Instead, you egged him on so that you could increase that dependence you long since lost from him. And if you couldn't have him. No one else would."

"No!" Instead of tears now, he seemed belligerent.

"The time is long past for lies, Dr. Murran. Admit it to yourself."

"Who the hell are you anyway? Some rabid Malachi fan trying to get an exposé?"

"I'm the guy who still holds your life in my hands. I need you to answer to my satisfaction. That's very important, you understand?"

Dr. Murran took a deep breath and then closed his eyes with a nod. "You're right. I lost my way a long time ago and I was barely holding on by a thread. And Malachi—he was that thread. He was my inspiration, my life. It's been snapped. What I've been doing since then—I'm not entirely proud of, but I still have my goals. I want to reach them before I die."

"Understandable, I suppose, from your perspective. You have such noble goals you strive for and yet it's taken so long for you to even get this far. I've taken the time to research your background quite thoroughly, Dr. Murran. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that your life turned out as it has. I still have more questions for you, but let's take a break for now, shall we?"

"Yes, please," Dr. Murran said relieved.

"Let's hope you're more cooperative when I come back. Unfortunately, you're on quite shaky grounds. Questioning me, arguing back at me, raising your voice, having me repeat myself. Tsk, tsk. Don't make me work so hard next time, alright? I would hate for your pride to do you in."

The man nodded vigorously and didn't say another word. Auden then slapped the duct tape back on his face much to the doctor's dismay and Vegeta's amusement. With this, Auden turned. He gave Vegeta an incomprehensible look as he strolled out of the room. Vegeta decided that it was best if he followed him just in case. Auden made his way down the hall before sighing heavily and sliding down to the floor. Maybe _he_ needed a break more than the doctor.

"Having second thoughts about killing him?" Vegeta asked.

His head was in his hands. "No, I'm just tired. I hope I'm doing this right. I'm tired of talking to him. I just want to kill him already." He looked up at him with cold eyes. "It's getting more difficult stopping myself from doing it."

"Hmph, you and me both. I probably wouldn't have even made it this far. It's tiring just watching."

"I had to question him about Malachi first. Aster's death stems from all of that along with his own personal goals."

"What? To save the world one patient at a time?"

"No—you'll hear it soon enough. I'll have him say it in his own words," he said with a subtle grin.

"How did you make him shut up before when you first started," Vegeta asked thinking back.

Auden took a moment to realize what he was referring to. "Oh, that? I just smiled at him when he wasn't expecting it. He knows that what's good for me won't be good for him."

 _Hm, maybe I_ should _smile more…_ "That's one way to do it."

"I'm guessing you'd do things differently."

"Let's just say that there would be a lot more pain and screaming."

"Do you honestly think you'd get reliable answers out of someone so compromised?"

"Maybe not, but it would be more entertaining."

"It certainly would. I don't think he quite believes that his life is in danger, but he's taking the proper precautions just in case. I've given him an easy out anyway. Just answer my questions and it's done. He can move on with his life's pursuit. It's not the first time he's given out confidential patient information for gain."

For a few minutes longer, Auden gathered himself. His expression at first weary eventually returned to its usual neutrality. He was ready once again. They walked down the hall together, but Vegeta allowed Auden to enter first so that Dr. Murran could continue to think that Auden was the biggest threat.

Auden snatched the duct tape off again to a now whimpering doctor who likely couldn't do too many more duct tape snatchings. "Hope you're feeling more open and talkative." He was leaning on the desk as he had before.

"Y-Yes, of course. I'll tell you anything, anything at all."

"That's what I like to hear." Auden took this time to turn and sit on the desk with feet still on the ground. His back was to the doctor and his eyes were trained on the floor as he wore a pensive mask. Now all Dr. Murran had to look at was Auden's back and Vegeta's perpetually pissed expression. He visibly gulped.

"Your family has a long history of dealing with cancer later on in life, don't they?"

"They do. My own mother had—

"Breast cancer. I know. Along with two of your aunts. Your father stomach cancer. Your grandfather, cervical cancer. The list goes on."

"You say it so flippantly like—

"It's a sad story, I know."

"How would you know?"

"Questioning me again, I see."

"I'm sorry…I just—That took me by surprise."

"It's personal, I understand. I don't claim to know specifically how you would feel in that situation, but I can make an educated guess. You have quite the large family as well."

"Yep, always have."

"One by one, they die and you find yourself at more and more funerals. Friends and family die around you even as you study to learn medicine. Everyone seems so weak."

"Well, I wouldn't quite say it like that, but, yes, we humans do seem fragile compared to other hardier forms of life out there. Our lifespans _might_ be a hundred years if we're lucky and so many of us succumb to our diseases before our time. Even training to become stronger can be detrimental to us. Our bones break so easily. We get sick on a regular basis. Our immune systems could be even better but improving that would cause our own bodies to attack itself. It's an uphill battle bettering the human condition."

"Then tell me, doctor. What are your goals and do you think you've reached them?"

"All I want to do is unlock the full potential of human beings. I want us to overcome all these inconveniences to become powerful beings more in control of our own lives."

"Admirable."

"Ever since studying medicine, I've been working towards that and I made some progress back then."

"Ah, yes. Finding treatment and cures to various incurable diseases including Lupus."

"Yes, Lupus and Asthma. My biggest achievement. I wanted to do more though."

"You thought you made a major breakthrough when you studied Malachi's bloodwork."

"Major might even be too little a word to describe. Somehow, his body had transformed. His very genetic code had changed. Every single attribute that relates to the body had improved significantly. Selfishly, Malachi had drank from the well of youth and health without telling anyone. When I questioned him, all he said was that he was training himself. It had to be more than that. Gaining muscles aside, his health had never been so good before. It didn't do much to allay the effects of heavy drug use unfortunately. He was compromised because of that. But if I tweaked things just a little, it would account for that as well."

"You found the holy grail and you wanted to mass produce it."

"Yes, I had to extract it from his blood and turn it into a formula that could be consumed. Shortly after his death, I was able to perfect the formulation. I had unlocked human potential, or at least, I would once everyone partook of it. I wanted the human race to be transformed permanently."

"Even if you had to break a few laws."

"Laws always stymie progress. I went around it because I knew it was effective."

"Did you try it on yourself?"

"There wouldn't be a point to doing that. I was diagnosed with cancer last year—I'm sure you must know that with all your researching. It's public knowledge. I announced it on my social media. That formula I dubbed Vigor Enhancer does not cure diseases and cancer. Malachi's condition is optimal for a starting point, but when someone is born with those enhancements, it makes them immune to incurable diseases and they are much stronger than their parents. My suspicions were confirmed with Jensen, but he seems to be a special case. There's a piece of the puzzle still missing."

"Yet your formula is 100% safe and works? You've already went ahead with your plans."

"What I had was good enough."

"What you had has placed everyone in grave danger. Did you account for the emotional changes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you account for spikes in infant mortality?"

"N-No, what are you talking about? I have single-handedly made all of us stronger and more capable."

"You've become quite sloppy in your research and experimentations. You wanted something so badly that you overlooked all the negative consequences."

"I am trying to save lives. Maybe you're not willing to sacrifice as much as I am."

"You've fallen to levels of stupidity I thought were impossible for a person in your line of work. You are still missing a major piece of the puzzle, but I won't be revealing that to you today especially considering what you've done with the information you do have."

"I don't believe you. You're bluffing! How could you, some lay person, know more than me on the topic?"

"Like I said before, I've done some research. So, you wanted Jensen so that you could study him more thoroughly because your formula may not have been as reliable as you fooled yourself into thinking. How did you plan on doing that?"

"Well, I couldn't very well do it myself," he said after a pause.

Auden must have known that Dr. Murran would likely take offense to what he said before the question, but he was testing the doctor. He was training him to be obedient. The doctor rightly decided to answer rather than engage Auden further in objections. Or maybe Vegeta was looking too far into it.

"I hired some professionals to bring him to me. I paid quite a bit of money."

"Did you care about potential casualties?"

"I wasn't aware there were any."

"Oh, there were some and they seemed careless about cleaning things up."

"Is _that_ why you're here then?"

"Questioning me again? It's almost like you don't care to see the next day."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just—

"Did you care about potential casualties?"

"I didn't think there would be any. Of course, I want the minimal amount of people getting hurt. Of course."

"Of course," he repeated mockingly. "Two older women were found drowned in the nearby pond and there was a young woman as well—mutilated beyond recognition."

"I'm so sorry. I was never told any of that!"

"You chose a shady company with a questionable reputation because you were asking for something illegal. You set things in motion. You are directly responsible for those deaths."

"No! It wasn't me! It was them!"

"I'm talking to you right now. You are the one responsible."

"No!"

"Yes!" Auden shouted as he turned to look at him directly now. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Okay…alright. I asked for Jensen to be captured alive. That was me. But—" He stopped when Auden tilted his head slightly.

"You didn't bother to do a background check on the criminals who you paid to do your biddings. You didn't care to. It would have costed you extra to make sure that no one else was harmed. That was the contract, and you chose the cheapest option available. Cutting corners again as usual. You could have avoided this whole thing had you been more careful and more mindful of the lives you're so casually discarding."

"How do you…"

"Hm? Is that another question for me?"

"N-No," the man said shaking his head.

"Is there a cure to the disease you've rashly decided to unleash upon everyone?"

"A cure?" he said confused. "There is no cure for progress. We don't need one. I have singlehandedly led our species to an evolution that heavily favors our longevity."

"That is if we don't all kill each other first," Auden said drily. "Well, that marks the end of my questioning unless my friend here wants to add anything," he said standing and glancing back at Vegeta.

Vegeta shrugged briefly effectively giving him leave to do whatever he saw fit to do next. Auden responded with a quick nod.

"You did very poorly, unfortunately," Auden began, looking at the frightened doctor. The man was shaking uncontrollably now. "I hated having to repeat myself. Dragging information out of you served little in terms of entertainment, but I don't want our time together to be a complete waste." Auden slowly advanced upon him.

Vegeta wasn't exactly sure what Auden had in mind, but it certainly wasn't what he saw next. Auden made his way around the desk and pushed the rolling chair further back so that there was nothing blocking his body. Vegeta moved so that he could get a better view as Auden slipped a clean, sharp knife from his pocket—it was more like a dagger and it looked to be sharpened to a point where it could easily slice through flesh. For the next few minutes, all Vegeta heard were shouts of pure terror and visceral pain as Auden carefully sliced through his clothes from his chest down to his torso. The man was still alive screaming shrilly—sounds Vegeta would typically hear in the background of a burning village—as Auden dug his hands in and pulled out whatever organs he found but making sure the intestines were visibly exposed. Blood was starting to pool out and the squishy sound of flesh and the smell of fresh blood filled the air. The doctor fainted but Auden wasn't done yet as he started meticulously ripping into the soft part of his face. It took Vegeta a moment to realize that he was recreating the condition they'd found his daughter in. He didn't bother with the legs, however. He stopped short of that. Instead, he tossed the knife to the ground and held out one of his bloodied palms. Now, he was going to use a ki blast. It was overkill by now, but Vegeta didn't stop him as he shot off several low-powered ki blasts into his legs, chest and face. With each blast they became stronger and stronger. On the last one, he used both hands and burned what was left of his corpse into mostly ashes and melted bone shouting all the while.

Auden stood there now with extended arms and heavy breaths gazing at his work with a cold blank expression. Vegeta couldn't tell if he was satisfied or wanted more. He had no idea what he could possibly be thinking about in that moment.

"Are we done here?" Vegeta finally asked pulling him out his one-sided staring contest.

"Yeah," he said quietly as he let his arms drop to his side.

He'd had no trouble at all. Vegeta hadn't detected any hesitation. It was just like Auden had said it would be. Vegeta wasn't sure if he should be impressed or horrified. His clothes were all bloodied up and the forthrightness from before was gone. Auden didn't wait for further instruction from Vegeta as he quickly made his way past, exiting the lab. Before Vegeta followed in suit, he heard the vomiting and he paused for him to finish with his business. Perhaps it hadn't been so easy for him. Vegeta stepped out only when all was quiet. Auden had walked further out near the cliff and there he rested, sitting on the grass. Vegeta stood nearby but didn't say anything for several long minutes.

"How are you feeling?" Vegeta asked.

"Like we need to get rid of the evidence."

 _Practical as always._ "Is that really what you're thinking about?"

"You were able to vaporize an entire body. Is it possible to destroy a building?"

"It wouldn't be very difficult. Even you could do it."

"I couldn't possibly—

"Did you want to try? If you fail, I'll just finish it off."

Auden looked up at him with surprise. "You really think I could manage that?"

"Never know until you try. Besides, you won't know the limits of your power unless you use it."

Auden climbed to his feet. "Why the hell not? I'll try it."

"Well, it seems like you already know how to bring forth you ki and gather it into one place. Do that now but on a larger scale—like the kind of ki blast you used to down Gohan so easily."

"I see, but I was highly motivated before with Gohan."

"And you're not motivated now?"

Auden began gathering ki without even bothering to answer. It didn't take long for his ki blast to grow to a gigantic size.

"Make sure you're maintaining the shape!" Vegeta shouted over the gusting wind in the presence of the high concentration of energy.

"I-I'm trying!"

"Now! Unleash it now!"

When Auden let go, for some reason, the blast was slightly turned upward. Vegeta struck the ki blast with his arm to push it back on course. Other than that, however, the blast did as intended and completely decimated the building sending it up in flames and smoke. When Vegeta turned back to Auden, he was completely laid out on the ground exhausted.

"Hm, it's almost like you didn't need me at all," Vegeta said to the heavily breathing man looking down at him with a grin.

Auden looked away not at all impressed. He seemed despondent as he stared out into the distance. He didn't appear as if he felt accomplished or even excited. What more did the man require? Vegeta supposed that at the end of the day, his daughter was still dead. He didn't want to even begin to know what that felt like.

"Just gonna' lay here all day?"

"Maybe I will."

"I'm not trying to argue with you."

"I'm being serious. Laying here all day seems like a better plan than any."

"How about going back home?"

He sighed at this. "I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know anymore. I didn't have a plan as to what I was supposed to do after this. He's dead and then nothing. There's nothing. No motivation for anything else. I didn't think I'd get this far honestly."

"You and your death wish again."

"Call it what you want," he said wistfully. "I don't care about anything anymore. No one…needs me anymore…"

Vegeta wanted to grab him and shake some sense into him, but he knew that wouldn't work. He seemed at his wit's end. The lifelessness in his eyes were eerie; maybe he was already dead. Was there really nothing else to live for? Was his life so empty and devoid of meaning?

"Let me give you direction," Vegeta said gruffly. "Look at me." He waited patiently for him to look at him directly. He had his full attention now. "I will train you to your fullest potential and you will join me in protecting this planet from outside forces. Live for me a little longer."

There was confusion in his eyes and for a moment, Vegeta didn't think he was taking him seriously, but then he simply nodded. "Alright, since I have nothing better to do."

"Now, let's go and get you cleaned up—you look like some psychotic serial killer from the movies complete with cold, blank expressions."

"Thank you," he said with a subtle grin. "Exactly what I was going for."

Vegeta took one of his hands and helped him to his feet. He decided he'd go with him in the car since he was no longer in a rush. He practically dragged the man to the car and stuffed him into the passenger's seat.

"I'm driving," Vegeta announced.

"Fine," he said nonchalantly as he closed the door.

Vegeta jumped in the car and started up the engine after Auden handed him the key. He glanced over at Auden who was staring forlornly out the window.

"I feel a lot weaker than I expected. I guess doing those ki blasts takes a lot out of a person."

"Only when they're inexperienced and trying to destroy entire buildings."

Auden snorted at this. "Point taken. I don't think it's a good idea to go back to my place though. Chi-Chi's probably there. I don't want her to see me like this."

"Oh, so you care about her opinion."

"I'd like to avoid the 21 questions and the yelling when she finds out I agreed to your training."

"I thought you two were—

"We're just friends. Simple as that. She just wanted to get out of the house for a while, I guess."

From the sound of his voice, Vegeta could tell that it was a sore subject, so he dropped it.

"There's no cure," Auden said after a while. "I don't know why I thought that man had all the answers. He was insane and soon we'll all be joining him." His head leaned on the window and his eyes stared downward at nothing in particular—the picture of being deep in thought.

"Humans are nothing if not resilient. Many brilliant minds are now trying to ease the symptoms."

"I don't want to have to take more medication," he said miserably. "I don't want the same thing that happened to Chi-Chi to happen to me. I-I can't imagine…"

"Hey, the only thing we can do is take things one step at a time. You're fine now as far as I'm concerned. Focus on that."

"Always living life in the moment, huh? Is that how you ignore the looming bleakness of the future?"

"Don't be so dramatic—it's not that bad. What do you have against taking something if it would help you in the end?"

"Because everything becomes so hazy. I'm not in full control of myself." He sat up a little straighter so that he could return to looking at the passing foliage. "Sometimes," he began quietly, "I want to experience myself fully without any buffer. Whatever happens as a result afterwards, just happens."

"And if that results in putting others in danger?"

"I don't care. Why should I care? No one else does. People die everyday and we punish the people who do the killing—at least some of them anyway. We never care to cure the underlying issues, we just punish and move on. Maybe it's because no one really cares if someone dies, they just want relief from their pain."

"Auden."

"Yes?"

"Are you off your meds?"

He chuckled at this. "Of course not, I'm a decent, law-abiding citizen who complies with his doctor mostly."

Vegeta couldn't tell if he was lying or not. The difficulty in reading him lied in his very steady heartbeat even when there should be some quickening when he was happy or sad—the changes were subtle at best. He certainly didn't emote very well at all so there was no signs for him to interpret.

"I…didn't want to bring this up since you seem like an impatient man, but I'm parched. A nice, cold bottle of water would be lovely right now."

"Prolonged interrogations can do that to you. If I see an exit, I'll take it."

"Really?"

"Really. What sort of a monster do you think I am? We still have hours left. You think I'd leave you thirsty for that long when it's an easy problem to address?"

"I wasn't sure," he said with a shrug.

"Hmph," Vegeta said shaking his head. "Perhaps you have the wrong impression of me. You've been listening to Chi-Chi too long."

"Maybe I have."

"That missing piece of the puzzle you were talking to the doctor about. What exactly were you referring to anyway?"

"Oh, you already know it, I'm sure. The fact that Malachi's changes were brought on by an entity that wasn't of this world. He never knew that. If he did, perhaps he'd been more cautious about using the information for his 'evolution'."

"How did you find out?"

"I did tell you I hacked into CC databases, right? Bulma stores her information there since it's so highly secure. I would too if I were in her shoes. It was a being who called itself Laputa which plagued Malachi's very existence for quite some time before leaving a permanent mark on him after it was fully subdued."

"Accurate. Bulma continued to monitor Malachi even after the apparent signs of possession were gone. Eventually, she concluded that its effects were not negatively impacting him in any way aside for the dramatic increase in pregnancy risk that we discovered well after the fact."

"When you're only working with part of the information, you're bound to make mistakes as was the case for the doctor who saw what he wanted to see in his research."

"So, the existence of aliens doesn't seem to bother you."

"It's not exactly a foreign topic. It's well within the bounds of possibilities considering what we know of how Earth came to be and the realization that there exists countless circumstances in which the same conditions could have occurred elsewhere. The likelihood exists, but, admittedly, there's been no confirmation. I think I might have found that with Laputa."

"And did you find any information about me when you were diving into those databases?"

"No information whatsoever, which is a bit of a red flag, but you weren't on my radar."

"I came to live on this planet many years ago," Vegeta began. He felt Auden's gaze slowly turn towards him. "My home was destroyed and I found myself here eventually. It's a long and involved story but it ended up with me staying here, starting a family, and acclimating, I guess." He glanced over at Auden who was just staring in wonderment. For some reason, Vegeta thought he'd take it a little better, but he seemed genuinely shocked. He felt his eyes rummage over him a few times before Vegeta gave him a hard look that didn't seem to perturb him.

"Th-That's incredible! Now it makes sense why you keep referring to others as 'humans' all the time. I was wondering about that. You're—what are you called?"

"Saiyan," Vegeta said singularly. He kept his eyes on the road trying to ignore his gaze, but he didn't seem to get the message. "You look like you want to place me into a petri dish."

"That's for the biologists," he said, "I'm just a humble computer scientist who hacks into too many secure databases."

Soon the interest subsided as he returned his gaze to the window much to Vegeta's relief. At least that was over with now.

"I can't believe I've agreed to be trained by you. You'll break me in half and leave me in a ditch somewhere to die."

"I've trained plenty of humans before. Relax. You're not a guinea pig—well, not entirely."

Auden sighed at this. "I've sold my soul to the Devil."

"The drama is starting to kill me slowly, Auden."

"Karma has decided to rear its ugly head!"

Vegeta groaned.

"It's as if the very ground beneath me has opened up and I'm in constant freefall until I make a fatal, crash landing."

"Will you quit it, Auden? There might be some pain associated, but it won't kill you."

Auden chuckled at this. "I'm only teasing."

He leaned his head on the window again. This time when Vegeta glanced over, his eyes seemed unfocused likely not thinking of anything in particular. After a while, Auden seemed to fall asleep unable to keep his eyes open for much longer. Aside from a few quiet moans, it was a peaceful rest as Vegeta continued down the narrow road.

Eventually, the private road turned into the main highway. An exit would be coming up soon. He'd be able to get Auden his water. Then it should be smooth sailing from there. They'd go to his place where he could get cleaned up and then afterwards, he wasn't entirely sure. It would probably be a little later on in the day. He wanted to start training Auden as soon as possible but he was still debating with himself when it should start. He'd check with Bulma to see where she was with searching for the dragon balls and if she still intended on sending him to get them. Pan had expressed interest as well, but Bulma didn't like the idea of Bra being left alone for an extended amount of time considering her mental state and that she was still healing from her loss. Sending Pan and Bra didn't seem like the best idea either since they were just now starting to spend time with the kids. Their other friends were potential candidates, but Bulma didn't feel secure sending them. They weren't well-versed in flying spaceships and if the situation turned dangerous, they were less able to defend themselves. Vegeta had a feeling that he'd be going just as originally had been the plan. It would be a simple task for him and he was quite comfortable being out there in space having spent most of his formative years there. He looked forward to it somewhat as it had been a while since he'd been off planet.

Auden had already started snoring though he appeared to be in quite an uncomfortable position. Would it not have been easier to just lean his seat back so that he could lay down? He was certainly an odd one as his name ironically suggested—at least phonetically. Vegeta wondered about the intense nightmares he'd been having before and how often they reoccurred. He hoped he'd be free from them for the time being.

Once he made it to an exit, he headed to the nearest gas station to buy water as promised. It was only as he sat back down in the driver's seat that Auden was jolted back to wakefulness as if an alarm had been set off.

"What's wrong?" Vegeta asked mystified.

"…Nothing," he said slowly taking in his surroundings. "I guess I thought I was somewhere else for a moment. Anyways, you come bearing gifts."

Vegeta handed him the plastic bag and the other took it gratefully into his lap. He closed the door and started the car up once again.

"Geez, did you get enough water?" Auden asked parsing through the several bottles he'd gotten.

"Thought you might appreciate it."

"Well, thank you. It's very thoughtful of you."

"Don't mention it."

Auden's eyes lingered on him a bit longer before fully engaging with the plastic bag again. He ended up chugging down three bottles before having his fill and setting the bag on the floor near him. Vegeta learned long ago how essential water was for humans—it was apparently more important than food. They're cells required it for continued activity. Energy seemed to have returned to Auden as he sat straighter in his seat.

"You're way nicer than you let on," Auden said after a while.

Vegeta snorted at this but made no further response.

"Even if you are the guy who had no problem with me killing someone in cold blood."

"He had it coming. If you didn't do it, I would."

"Is that what defending Earth entails?"

"It's a last resort, but sometimes we have to use our own discretion on people. I'm not like Kakarot. I don't think every person can change and I don't like taking unnecessary risks."

"That makes sense. Although, I'm afraid my own judgement is a little impaired most days."

"Better to think that than to assume you're always right."

"Right."

Auden's gaze had returned to his window after it had been trained on the windshield for a little while.

"Auden, what exactly do you have against my wife?"

He looked at him with surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you don't have the highest opinion of her."

"I'm surprised you don't know. You two seemed like the type who tell each other everything."

"We might tell each other things about ourselves, but not about other people. We're not into gossiping."

"Well, that's nice to know."

"Are you too embarrassed to share?"

"I don't want to upset you."

"I'm surprisingly understanding—sometimes."

Auden chuckled clearly amused. "Oh, only sometimes? I'm sold." He paused but then continued. "I knew Bulma a long time ago back in grade school. She was quite popular as you can imagine—it was hard not to have known of her. She was a celebrity who went to a public school which is still controversial even to this day. I knew who she was well before she ever paid me any mind. It wasn't until high school that she noticed I existed. I wished she hadn't."

"Is that it?" Vegeta asked when he didn't say anything for a long passing moment.

He shook his head 'no' slowly. "She got on my last set of nerves most of the time, but still she was interesting in her own respect and easy to talk to about science. I hated that she noticed me all the time, but I was grateful when she helped me in ways no one else had done before. I felt indebted to her even when I wanted nothing more to do with her. She used to…" He paused again and fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I don't care what you two did," Vegeta said with some annoyance at his hesitance. "I have no stake in it. It was long ago. I'm just curious. She rarely talks about what her life was like before meeting Kakarot."

Vegeta noticed his weary look but he remained painfully quiet for almost a full minute before Vegeta growled with irritation.

"Alright," he said quietly. "What do I have to lose anyway?" he said in a tone that suggested he'd given up completely.

It was something that irked Vegeta further, but he stopped himself from telling him off. He seemed about to finally speak on something that was probably quite private.

"After she spoke to me a few times, Bulma made it her mission to 'fix' me, to 'pull me out of my shell'. In reality, she pursued me relentlessly for a relationship more than friendship because no man could resist her charms. I wasn't playing hard to get—it wasn't some sort of game for me. I just wasn't interested and for some reason, I could never get her to believe that. I was the shy boy who needed to be shown the ropes. All throughout high school, she would molest and abuse me over and over again because she thought she knew better than me. There was one incident she seems to remember vividly—a time at the lockers when no one else was around, she tried to kiss me. She apologized for that recently. That's nice, I suppose, but it wasn't the only time something like that happened even if she wants to pretend as if that's the case. Sorry, but if I never heard her voice again or saw her face, I wouldn't miss it in a million years."

The car swerved a little as Vegeta looked over at Auden willing him to look him in the eyes—instead, his eyes were stubbornly turned away from him. "When I left Bulma with you thinking she might calm you better than I did that time when your ki was out of control, I was just making matters worse," Vegeta said thinking back. "That sounds really shitty. I can see why you never want to come around the place. I'll…let Bulma know how serious you are about not wanting to see her. She can be very stubborn."

"But—

Vegeta glanced over when he stopped himself. "What is it?"

"But how will I ever repay her? She's done a lot for me."

"Starting now, whatever debt you think you have to her is completely null and void. You don't need to be her friend. You don't need to be at her beck-and-call. You don't need to be anything to her. It's done. I'll talk to her and she'll understand."

"Vegeta, why would you do all this? Aren't you upset? I'm just adding complication where there wasn't any before."

"For your mental wellbeing first of all. Knowing all this, it makes no sense to let things stand as they are. I'm not upset. It just seems that perhaps I wasn't the only one who was an asshole in the distant past. As for adding complication—it was already there. It's just being acknowledged now. And, Auden, I want you to trust me. You won't become strong in mind and body when you're not at peace with yourself."

Auden who'd been looking at him intently turned away quickly when Vegeta uttered his last sentence. It was a clear sign that he likely wasn't at peace, but there was no need to keep grilling him for personal information. He'd told him a lot already. In time, Vegeta suspected that there would be more to say. He doubted that this was the cause of his nightmares especially since it had nothing to do with handcuffs.

"We still have a couple hours to go," Vegeta said in the growing silence. "Make yourself comfortable."

Auden simply nodded and left it at that. The next time he went to sleep a half an hour later, he leaned back his seat so that he could do so comfortably. Vegeta was soon surrounded by the sounds of peaceful slumber for the remainder of the trip. It was a shame he had to wake him at the end of it since he seemed so restful. In the sort of daze one might be in after being tragically torn away from a deep sleep, Auden followed him inside. Vegeta led him to the nearest shower and gave him a change of clothes from Dr. Brief's closet—hopefully he wouldn't mind. It fit well enough and Auden seemed refreshed from the activities from earlier.

"Well, I doubt you want to stay here for long, so I have nothing further for you. I need to figure out a few details before your training begins, but be ready," Vegeta told him as they stood in the hallway that led to the main entrance of the house.

"Yeah, I guess I should be getting home soon."

Vegeta noticed immediately that he wasn't very enthused about it. What did the man want? Did he want to stay here where Bulma would eventually appear or go home where Chi-Chi likely was?

"Don't take too long figuring things out," Auden said ominously as he turned from him. "I'll be all yours when you decide to start this training."

Vegeta gave his retreating form a confused look as he parsed through his strange phrasing that could probably roughly be translated to: he was ready to dedicate his full attention on training since it was the only thing motivating him to keep living. And, on that note, that was another thing to consider. He probably needed to start training him soon. He hoped getting the dragon balls wouldn't put a monkey wrench in his plans.

After spending an extended amount of time with Auden, Vegeta was able to fully confirm that the man was insane. He still couldn't determine just how much he actually cared about other people. His overarching view on the world was also indeterminate. Did he like that there was society in the first place or did he secretly want to burn it all down? All of these things were probably red flags but…Vegeta liked those things about him. Only time would tell if he was making the right decision nurturing his fighting prowess or if he was even appropriate for the role of a defender. For some reason though, he liked the idea of having someone like that on his side.


	15. Traveling to New Namek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta embarks on the long awaited trip to New Namek.

Jensen found himself waking up in a familiar room. It was disconcerting considering the last thing he remembered. Perhaps he'd been rescued. Perhaps Aster had been rescued. Everything had turned out well. He groaned a little as he tried to sit up. It was more of a task than he'd expected. He had been knocked out after all.

"Jensen? You're awake," said a relieved voice from beside him.

He knew it was Bra so he instinctively looked away from her. "What happened?"

"You were captured and taken to a lab. I don't know what happened to you while you were there, but Vegeta was able to find you and he brought you back here. You've been in and out of consciousness since then."

Jensen tried to piece her words together with reality, but it seemed almost impossible. He was missing a lot of information. Even more, he didn't feel like discussing it with Bra. "I have to go," he said climbing off the bed.

"Wait, Jensen—you just woke up. We just got you back safe and sound. You can't be leaving so soon."

Jensen looked back at her. "What part of 'I don't want to talk to you ever again' do you not understand?"

"Oh my god, Jensen, grow up! I've moved on. Everyone has moved on except for you."

He didn't feel like letting his anger erupt at her usual show of ignorance. "Then I'll just be the odd one out." This time when he made his way towards the door, he ignored anything else she had to say and continued on his way.

Once outside, he took off into the sky. The fact that he would never forgive her was a foregone conclusion. He was grateful that he was recovered enough to leave so abruptly. Likely, his body's accelerated healing was the reason behind it. He enjoyed the freedom of being able to soar through the air whenever he wanted to. After Vegeta taught him how to do it properly, it became his primary mode of travel and the world had opened up for him. He'd taken Aster with him everywhere; he could tell that she enjoyed it as well even if she didn't want to learn how to fly herself.

He had no idea what had happened to Aster. Glancing at his phone, he knew that she hadn't contacted him in all that time. Maybe she was recovering as well at her place. He could have asked Bra about it, but there was no way he was going to have an actual conversation with her. He'd have an easier time with Auden. Besides, Aster insisted that her father held no ill-will towards him. He'd have to take his word for it.

He was already headed towards her place as was habit for him. He always wound up there as if gravity itself pulled him to that location. Lately, he would feel more welcomed there than his own place. Her father was so often at work that it was as if they had the place to themselves. He didn't even bother climbing the stairs once he got to the apartment and touched down on the familiar exterior corridor. He found the door soon enough but stopped short of knocking on it when he heard raised voices—it was a first. He had to check the number again to make sure he had the right one. He could hear Chi-Chi's sharp voice cutting through the door. Curiously, he stepped forward to hear a bit more clearly.

"I can't believe you went behind my back!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't know I needed to consult you for every little thing that I do," Auden retorted. Because of it's deepness, it was more difficult to make out the words.

"Little? This is not a 'little' decision. Do you realize what you just agreed to?"

"Yes—I do."

"Do you?"

"I said I did."

"No you don't or else you wouldn't have agreed to it."

"I told you—

"You don't need to be part of that world. It's dangerous. It's dangerous! This is silly! Why would you _do_ this?!"

"Chi-Chi—

"Auden!"

There was a pause in their vocal sparring and Jensen thought that now would be the perfect time to knock before they actually started jumping down each other's throat. He wondered about Aster. He couldn't sense her, but if she was there, it likely wasn't such a pleasant place to be recovering.

"Hold on, there's someone at the door," Jensen heard Auden say.

Startled, Jensen looked at his hand mystified. His fist had been hovering over the door, but he hadn't knocked yet. Had Auden simply sensed him there?

"Seriously, Auden? You think I'm falling for that?"

A moment later, the door was being opened and Jensen found himself face to face with Auden who didn't look all that surprised to see him. Maybe he'd known he was coming. Either way, it sent a shiver down his spine.

"That was quite a speedy recovery," he noted, looking at him pensively.

"Yeah, it doesn't take very long for me to heal. Is Aster here?" Jensen asked trying to sound as natural as possible though he was still startled. Nevermind the fact that he apparently knew that he'd been recovering in the first place.

The man looked at him for a moment too long and Jensen grew uncomfortable just standing there. Auden glanced behind himself, likely at Chi-Chi, and then opened the door wider. "Why don't you step in? We were just having dinner."

"What?" Jensen asked confused.

Auden stepped aside gesturing him inside.

"Auden? Who's that?" Chi-Chi asked from behind.

"It's Jensen."

"Oh, you're looking for Aster?" she asked instinctively, "You know, I haven't seen her for a while. I thought she would have been with you."

Jensen closed the door behind him. Nothing was adding up at the moment as he looked from Auden to Chi-Chi who was standing up now across the room. He watched as Auden looked up to the ceiling wearily before settling his gaze on Jensen.

"We need to talk. You and Chi-Chi—could you sit on the couch over there?"

"I really didn't come here for this—just tell me where Aster is and I'll get out of your hair," Jensen said not meaning to get between whatever argument they'd been having.

"Please, sit down," he insisted.

He was unrelenting. Auden didn't seem like the type who liked to draw things out like this, but today he was being annoying. With a sigh, he sat down and Chi-Chi joined him a moment later. They both looked at each other confused. Auden paced for a moment. Jensen tapped his foot. Chi-Chi crossed her arms with pursed lips.

"I suppose it's a good thing you two are here. I don't know why no one has told you, Jensen. And I was going to tell you today, well maybe later on tonight, Chi-Chi, but now is a better time than ever."

"The suspense is killing me. Just tell me," she said with a huff.

He stood there quietly for a moment longer. The silence became tense the more he drew it out. His expression was unreadable as usual, but Jensen could sense a degree of despondency.

"Listen," he began softly, "Aster won't be returning here. Her life was taken away by hired men at the small park behind the mall. Her body was…mutilated beyond recognition—there was no need for anyone to see that. I sensed it was her. I knew it was her. Those same men kidnapped you, Jensen, in service of a man who used to be your father's physician. He's dead as well. Vegeta took you back home."

"Auden," Chi-Chi said with surprise, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Jensen wasn't even paying attention to the particulars. He was staring at Auden with disbelief. "So she's…she's just gone?"

He nodded solemnly.

Tears had already sprung to his eyes. "No…" he said weakly, "She's really just gone?"

He thought he might be able to save face in front of people he didn't know that well, but he couldn't stop himself from crying. His eyes were burning and he couldn't hold his tears back at all. He found himself wrapped up in Chi-Chi's embrace. He'd never officially met the woman—just knew that she existed. None of it really mattered, however. She was just someone nice who happened to be nearby. He was a little embarrassed, but he couldn't seem to pull himself together. He remembered that moment at the park as those men cast their silly net and then that sound, that earthshattering sound thundering through his memories. He was certain now that it was the gun which had killed her. He'd blacked out before he could be of any use to Aster. Why, though? Why did it have to end like that? Anyone who believed in destiny or fate were only fooling themselves. In the face of senseless murder, it made no sense at all. He could see his future with her—he'd never felt like that with anyone else. Now…It was just a done deal. She was no longer alive. What now? What now? Maybe there was a grave. Maybe there was something. Maybe it didn't matter either way.

"What am I…supposed to do?" he found himself saying despite himself. How would she know? Why would she care? Reduced now to some snot-nosed kid asking incoherent questions, this had to be one of the worst first impressions he'd managed in his short life.

She'd been speaking to Auden, but then she paused and looked down. "Oh, sweetie, don't worry about that right now. Just take it one step at a time, okay? I know it doesn't seem that way now, but it does get better."

Hearing her talk brought a little more stability to his crashing mood. He decided now would be a good time to pull away from her or spend the rest of the day like that. It was slow progress, but he managed to do it.

"Do you feel up to eating something?" she asked kindly.

Speaking of food, he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something. It almost always seemed to be the case whenever he was visiting Aster. Rarely had he partaken in anything at home—it was too risky to do that if he was trying to avoid Bra.

"Sure," he said hoarsely though he wasn't certain about his appetite.

"Auden, go grab another plate for him," Chi-Chi said softly.

Jensen looked up just as he was moving towards the kitchen. Chi-Chi eventually led him to the table where evidently, they'd already been occupying before he'd stepped in. There was a nice spread on the table—far too much for just two people though surprising progress had been made with the platter containing a sizable grilled fish. He sat down beside Chi-Chi where Auden had apparently placed the new plate for him. Jensen couldn't read Auden's mood as he finally got a good look at him, but that had always been the case—why did he think now would be different?

"How long?" Jensen croaked. He cleared his throat and then continued. "How long did you know about all this?"

"Not long," he answered. "I think it was a couple days ago—it's been a bit of a blur."

"How did you find out?" he asked curious.

"It was just…something I felt. At the time, I was at the Briefs and Vegeta believed me when I told him that I thought something felt very off. I don't really know, to be honest, but my suspicions were confirmed when we got there."

"That makes sense," Jensen said almost to himself.

"Does it?" he said faintly amused by his statement.

"You were pretty close to her—you'd probably be the only other person who'd sense that since there were no powerful ki levels involved. Otherwise…" Jensen could tell Auden wasn't following him at all. He simply shook his head when he didn't feel like explaining further. "I'm just glad you were there."

"Right."

Auden left it at that as Jensen started adding food to his plate—it was quite the buffet before him, mostly seafood, a few starches, and quite a bit of vegetables he hadn't tried before. It was a nice distraction from reality. He supposed this was why it was a tradition for some to have a big feast after a funeral. This was far less intense than the funeral he'd been to—no body lying pristine in a casket, no ceremony, no dwelling on that which couldn't be changed at the moment. The fact that soon the miraculous dragon balls would be within reach remained in the back of his mind, anchoring his despondency. Surely, they could make another wish as well. He'd heard them talking about how they could make three wishes instead of just one.

The grilled fish was to die for. Maybe that was why so much of it had already been eaten—clearly, this was Chi-Chi's expertise.

"Auden, don't do it, please," Chi-Chi said likely resuming what they'd been discussing before. "I know a little more now, but that's still no reason to be acting this recklessly."

"I have to."

"Now you sound like my husband."

"I don't mean to. It might be reckless. It could be a stupid decision on my part, but right now, I don't think I have a better idea as to what I should do."

"Do you hear yourself right now? You really think insane, life-threatening, unnecessary training is going to make things better?"

"Chi-Chi," he placed his fork down as he looked at her exclusively—Jensen was only mildly interested. "I don't have anything left. I don't know how else I could ever motivate myself to keep living. I'd like to make myself useful for someone else to bring some sort of meaning to my life."

The table grew quiet. Chi-Chi seemed speechless and Jensen was unwilling to break the silence though the food still smelled wonderful as heated mist rose from some of the bowls. It was clear to Jensen at this moment, that Auden was not taking this well. As much as Aster worried that her father didn't care about her as much as he had before, here was proof that she was completely misreading him. She apparently meant everything to him, above anyone else, above whatever person he happened to fancy at the moment. In a twisted way, Jensen knew that Aster would have loved to see this.

"I see," Chi-Chi said taking a deep breath. "If that's really the case, then I won't stand in your way. What about your job though?"

"I don't want to work there anymore. I'll have to find something else."

"Something else? You're just going to leave your nice, cushy job for 'something else'. I'm sure if you're training with Vegeta and you want to focus on that, then Bulma would understand."

"I'm sure she would, but I don't want to be associated with CC anymore. I've always hated that job—it sucks the life out of me every time I walk through those doors. I only kept it so that I could repay her somehow. I don't need to do that anymore."

"Oh, I had no idea you hated it so much."

"That company is truly despicable—it would just give me some peace of mind if I didn't have to deal with it anymore."

"So you won't be working there anymore and you'll be training with Vegeta—how exactly are you going to be making money?"

"I'll figure something out."

Chi-Chi sighed exasperatedly, "The most reckless thing you've said yet."

"I've been living beneath my means so that I could always save a good portion of my salary for a situation like this. Don't worry."

"But savings doesn't last forever and it's not that cheap to stay here."

"With what I have, I could live here for another year easily. That's enough time to figure something else out."

"I don't like this," she said shaking her head. "Maybe I could get a job too. I don't want to just sit at home all the time. Besides, you keep this place too clean and you don't eat enough to make it worthwhile."

Auden looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm saying, I don't have enough to do. I could help, you know. Training with Vegeta won't be easy—I don't think you'd feel up to doing anything else once you start. And maybe…you know, maybe I could just do a little something to support your efforts."

"That's far too generous of you."

"I _want_ to do it. Maybe I want to feel useful to someone else too."

"If you want to help me, then I won't stop you."

"Then we could get a joint account and we could pool our money together and we could get a house or something."

"Chi-Chi," he said with some surprise in his tone.

"Oh—was that too much?"

"We'll just have to see how things pan out."

"You'll have to promise me one thing though."

Auden looked at her with a slightly tilted head.

"You have to promise me that you'll still talk to me even when you're training. I know it'll be hard—I know you guys like to be isolated and focused, but it would really mean a lot."

"Of course I'll stay in contact, why wouldn't I? If you had a phone, it would be even easier."

It was then that Chi-Chi started tearing up and Auden was looking at her concerned. It was perhaps the most expression Jensen had seen on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing—just nothing. The way you said that—'of course'—like it was never a question in the first place. If only you knew…"

"I won't ever leave you, Chi-Chi. I won't ever go anywhere you couldn't follow. Unless you get tired of me."

Jensen was finishing up his second plate even though he hadn't been sure of his appetite in the first place. It was nice being in the presence of two people who were clearly attracted to one another. Even if he couldn't enjoy that feeling for himself, being near it was a nice consolation prize. Aster needed not worried so much about her father. She would always be his little girl. Denying someone companionship did nothing to help anyone.

The way they looked at each other because it seemed Chi-Chi was speechless again was quite intense. It was making him blush just witnessing it. He wondered if he shouldn't just leave now.

Jensen cleared his throat to get their attention. Auden looked first. "Um, well, I suppose I should get going—

"You can stay here if you like," he interrupted him. "I'm sure Aster wouldn't mind you staying in her room."

"You mean—are you sure?"

"I'm very sure. You've been in there plenty of times before. I trust you'll keep it in good condition."

"I will," he said in an energetic voice as if he was still trying to convince someone.

Auden gave him a brief nod and that was that. When he went to take his plate into the kitchen, Chi-Chi stopped him and insisted that she'd be cleaning the dishes tonight. Jensen didn't argue and quickly made his escape to Aster's room.

He could be near her again at least in his mind. He laid sprawled on her bed staring up to the ceiling thinking of the times they'd shared it in secret. He wouldn't mind staying this way forever or until they could get to those dragon balls. He'd forgotten to close the door and the walls were thin. While he couldn't hear what the two in the dining room were saying, he could tell they were talking again probably telling each other sweet things couples told each other when people weren't watching. It was cute. He didn't have to worry about Auden then. He'd be preoccupied and he had Chi-Chi. Something told him that without those things, it would be drastically different. Perhaps Auden wouldn't even be around right now. It would have been a tragic ending to a family that already seemed steeped in misfortune. Surely, their luck was due to change. But who was he kidding? Everyone always praised the people who were able to struggle and fight until things got better. No one paid attention to the ones who failed and never had a chance in the first place. That was too depressing. It was a reality that everyone pretended didn't exist.

Jensen tried to sleep but it was fleeting. Though he was getting increasingly tired, his mind wouldn't rest. The senselessness of Aster's death was difficult to get over. It almost didn't seem real. There was no other person like her. He was alone. Soft taps on the door caused him to look up.

"Are you asleep yet?" Auden asked with his voice traveling through the small crack between the door and doorframe—Jensen had left the door partially open, not brave enough in someone else's home to close it completely.

"I'm awake," Jensen confirmed.

Auden opened the door a little wider, but he didn't step in deciding simply to stand in the doorway. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Hopefully, you're not in here blaming yourself for everything that happened."

Jensen shook his head no silently.

"If you have any questions for me or if anything seems confusing, I can probably help you with that."

"The details don't really matter to me," Jensen said, "But it is still a little confusing. Why were those men there in the first place, why did they need to capture me?"

Jensen found himself asking the man several more questions and Auden went into exhaustive details as to why things happened as they did. The senseless nature of the incident was still there, but now he understood how it fit into the bigger picture. Aster happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time through no fault of her own. It was sometimes easy to forget how many admirers his father still had to this day and how deeply loyal some of his fans could be. The record label was still making money off of his name alone as they came out with more and more posthumous tracks to the general public and sold other memorabilia. Who would have suspected that his own physician would betray him? His father never really had anyone who he could trust. He lived most of his life without that, without even a family to call his own. Maybe there was some good in finally being put to rest, at least for the time being. Jensen heard that Other World was quite peaceful. Maybe he was having the time of his life before they drew him back into the dark world of reality. His father would have him this time though he couldn't do much, he could at least be his friend.

"I hope that puts your mind at ease," Auden said after he finished.

"A little," Jensen admitted. While they were clearing the air and Auden seemed more sympathetic, he thought it was also a good time for a confession of an incident his mind would return to now and then. "Do you remember that time when you were texting me about Aster's whereabouts all day?"

"Hm?" he asked confused, "Oh, yeah, I remember that."

"I'm sorry for that."

Auden seemed completely lost and Jensen knew he'd have to explain further.

"I…accidently made you that way."

"I'm still not following."

"Didn't it feel weird, having that desire all of a sudden?"

"Well, I suppose it was quite intense, but it's not something I'm unfamiliar with. I didn't mean to scare you like that—it was just…I don't know how to explain it. But I apologize. Why do you think you had anything to do with that?"

"Because I know I did. I made you that way. Do you remember the dream in which I was in it?"

"Not really," he admitted, "And you're a bit of a reoccurring character there anyway. The fact that I was worried about her seeing someone so exclusively and so often is longstanding."

"Oh," Jensen said in growing realization. "Well, it didn't happen that long ago. That time when you caught me in your room, do you remember that?"

"Jensen, why don't you just tell me plainly what you're trying to get at instead of having me piece events together."

"Alright," Jensen said with a sigh as he sat up. "I have an ability I guess because of what I am, to manipulate the thoughts and desires of other people. Admittedly, I don't always use it for the best reasons, but I try not to inconvenience people too much. Anyways, Aster told me how worried she was about you dating Chi-Chi and asked me to do something about it. I'm not blaming her, but that was one of the reasons I decided to do something. It backfired. I can read people's minds as well, but not everyone. I can't read yours because you're too powerful so I also can't change your thoughts while you're awake. I waited until you were asleep. When it's through someone's dreams, it's not as accurate and I have less control. It ended up presenting in an unexpected way—it wasn't quite what Aster had in mind. Anyways, I felt bad about it and I just wanted to let you know that it was me."

"Jensen," he said after a long pause. His expression had gone from confused to perturbed as he seemed to slowly wrap his head around what was being said. "My mind is screwed up enough as it is—I really don't need your help. You knew that already, didn't you, or has Aster never told you anything about me."

"No…I guess I knew, but I wasn't thinking."

"And if she really had an issue with what I was doing, she could have just—it's too late for all of this anyway, isn't it," he said catching himself. He grinned subtly. "That's why you felt confident enough to tell me all this now. Otherwise, you would have happily kept it to yourself."

"Umm…well…"

"Not to mention, I've never heard of anyone who could do the things you say, but after what I learned about Vegeta perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. I mean, a doctor wanted to use you for his experiments because he knew there was something he might find there. Listen, Jensen, I don't know what to make of any of this."

"I'm sorry," Jensen said hopefully.

"I'm…sure you are," he said shaking his head. "No, I'm not going to worry about this. I don't actually know if I can trust you, but I just don't feel like worrying about it. I know you and Aster were close and I'll just leave it at that."

"Wait, you don't think I did anything to Aster, do you?"

"I don't know anything, Jensen. I just don't," he said wearily.

"I swear, I would never do anything to hurt her."

"It's alright—you don't have to try and convince me of anything. I just wanted to see how you were doing and you seem to be well enough considering so I think I'll take my leave."

Auden didn't trust him. That stung a little, but he supposed he couldn't blame him. All he had was his word and he'd already admitted to doing things behind his back. He wondered if he should have admitted anything at all.

"I hope the night is kind to you," Auden said before Jensen could say anything further.

"Well, you too," he replied when he couldn't think of anything else to say.

It was better to just leave things as they were or risk making it worse. Just as he suspected, Auden was too spent to put up any real resistance, but that fact didn't exactly make him feel much better about anything. After Auden left, he laid back down on the bed basking in her scent. Eventually, such traces of her would become faint and disappear, but it allowed him to cope somewhat for the time being.

* * *

Having children in the house again wasn't exactly something Vegeta was thrilled about. At the very least, he wasn't directly responsible for them though he'd been tricked into watching them quite a few times. Pan was always rushing off to work and Bra wasn't very patient with children. Machi was the mischievous one even though no one would agree with him on that point. She smiled and giggled easily. She always had her arms raised wanting to be held and she would curl right up in someone's arms. She would be warm and welcoming knowing that one's heart would fall victim to her effortless cuteness and then she'd start making her demands. If you didn't obey her will, she'd become a complete monster, destroying eardrums and annihilating patience and good will if not the person themselves. Jr. wasn't nearly as diabolical. He kept to himself most of the time. He both adored attention and hated it. When he had something to say, the whole world had to know about it, but if he didn't, he would become pouty and quite unmanageable until he was left alone. He was very independent even when it was inconvenient for everyone and even when he didn't exactly know what to do. He clearly didn't know the advantage of winning the affections of others. He seemed almost incapable of smiling and hated being hugged or held. On the other hand, Vegeta had had plenty of full-on conversations with the boy whose comprehension levels were impressive for one so young.

At the moment, he found himself on the balcony—the same one just outside the bedroom where Bulma spent quite some time when she wanted to think. Flowers decorated the corners giving off a fresh, sweet scent and a single two-person table sat off to the side. Every once in a while, the two of them might share a quiet nightcap that sometimes led to other nighttime activities. Earlier that day, Bulma informed him that the preparations for traveling to New Namek would be finished by tomorrow and that it was best that he made the trip. He could take others if he wanted, but she knew that he wouldn't do well being trapped on a ship with anyone for several weeks. He wouldn't be using a particularly large ship—it was very barebones and only had the essentials for decent living in the interest of the highest speed possible. This meant that there wasn't a built in gravitron or a jacuzzi or a separate bedroom. Despite the ship being able to travel five times the speed of light, it would still take a little over a month to reach the planet.

The sliding door behind him was carefully opened. He expected Bulma, but instead Pan joined him near the railing.

"If you want me to watch the kids, I can't. Find someone else."

"No," she said with a laugh, "I didn't want to ask that this time anyway. I already know you're going to be leaving tomorrow. Bulma let me know and then I kinda let everyone else know."

"Hm, news travel fast. Saves me the trouble."

"You sure you don't want to take anyone with you?"

"I'm sure."

Pan sighed exasperatedly. "But I've never been to New Namek before and you know I'm familiar with space travel. We did it all the time when I was younger."

"I'd rather you were here just in case something might happen in my absence."

"No, you mean I'll just get in your way."

Vegeta didn't even bother looking towards her. "I'd just rather go alone, nothing to do with you or anyone. There doesn't need to be a lot of ceremony. It's one round trip. You'd be stuck in a tiny room with me for two months."

"That doesn't sound like the end of the world. Maybe you could tell me a little more about yourself or something like that."

He sensed her nervousness and it was already giving him a headache. Imagine dealing with that unfiltered for weeks on end. She'd likely ask him uncomfortable questions about his past that he'd rather not speak on to someone like her, someone he honestly didn't spend too much time with.

"Now that we know where New Namek is, this doesn't have to be a once in a lifetime trip. You can do it all on your own with other people as some sort of joy ride on a later date." He was getting a little irritated and he wasn't entirely sure that he'd kept it from coloring his tone.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said with a tinge of disappointment.

It was then that he heard Machi's shrill cries coming from inside. They both looked at the same time. Pan gave him a knowing look before rushing back in the house. Saved by the bell, it seemed. He'd have to let Auden know about his departure if he didn't know already. That was the only thing that made him just a little anxious. He hoped Auden would be okay for another couple months.

He'd spoken to Bulma about Auden. The conversation had started out civil and then very quickly became heated. Vegeta had never before directly told Bulma what to do, but he'd eventually made her promise that she would no longer make contact with Auden after telling her that it was for his own good and that if she really had his best interest at heart, she would agree with that. He'd made his case. He'd told her what Auden had told him and she had no rebuttal against Auden's account—those things did happen and she'd been trying to smooth things over with him for the longest time. Still, it was painful to see the hopelessness in her eyes when he told her that Auden did not owe her forgiveness. It wasn't something that could be forced upon someone or something to actively convince someone to do. That person had to do so on their own terms if at all. Bulma began to see things his way, but she wasn't happy about it and she was currently locked in her lab drowning herself in distractions. She was angry at him as well, but that was something he knew would be the case making such a bold request. She just needed time to cool down.

When he would be leaving for New Namek tomorrow, it wouldn't exactly be a warm goodbye from her. Now Pan was upset for him not wanting to take her along. He was sure Bra wouldn't be happy about him leaving either. Still, for whatever reason, he felt exceedingly confident that things would work out in his favor. There was no reason to think it wouldn't. Actually, he was in a good mood. He'd be seeing Malachi again. Secretly, that was the thing that he was most looking forward to over all else.

* * *

He woke up early the next morning having barely slept for more than two hours. The anticipation had gotten to him. It felt like an eternity had passed since Bulma began the near impossible task of locating a lone planet. The sun hadn't even come back up and he was ready to leave. Technically, it was the next day. Bulma who had joined him late at night was just as restless. There was no point in waiting anyway. The sooner he left, the faster they could get everything done. One wish would be used to revive both Aster and Malachi, the second one would be for getting rid of the new disease gripping all of Earth's population, if that was even possible, as for the third wish, there wasn't anything else pressing enough. Vegeta didn't really have his hopes up for the second one. The wishing dragons could cure physical wounds, but he'd never heard of them curing diseases. Wouldn't they have used that to cure other diseases that killed Earthlings on a daily basis? Still, it was worth a try.

Bulma gave him a brief kiss before he boarded the ship much to his surprise. Maybe she wasn't as upset with him as he'd thought. He felt right at home sitting down at navigation console. It was quite a bit sleeker and updated from the older ships he used to operate. The controls were simpler and he had less buttons and levers to push. In fact, he only pressed one button for the system to do the rest on its own as it lifted off the ground effortlessly and quietly. He felt the elevation increasing rapidly—a feeling different from simply flying on his own since he wasn't exactly propelling his body forward. He couldn't quite describe the feeling, but it was a familiar one.

Eventually, he was surrounded by the deepest darkness that went on forever and ever. The only thing that he could see were the twinkling stars always so very far away. And it was quiet, it was incredibly quiet in a way that could only be experienced off planet. Even the usual noises of the engine were quieter than usual. There wasn't much to look at, but he was wide-eyed all the same at least for the first half-hour. Eventually, he settled down in his well-cushioned seat and began to daydream as he usually did under such circumstances. While Bulma didn't have much in the way of amenities on the ship, she'd installed quality speakers, a monitor built into the front windows which could be used for viewing movies or taking calls, and hundreds of capsules containing various items and activities which could stave off the inevitable boredom.

Vegeta, almost certain that he would be making this trip, had also gathered some of his favorite things long before. Terri had published another sequel to her ongoing series and he'd purposefully abstained from reading it until now. Sure, he would probably finish it within a couple of days if not sooner since he had so much time on his hands, but he was looking forward to that along with quite a few titles he'd been meaning to get to but hadn't been in the mood for reading. Then there were a ton of music artists which had been on back log he'd yet to get to. Judging from reviews and a better understanding of his own taste in music, he knew he was in for a number of eargasms. Not to mention that he could still do some light exercises and stretches even if it wasn't with the gravitron—there were ways to make that just as impactful as the high-intensity training. In short, he would be spoiling himself. The sort of solitude that he would be experiencing was something he hadn't known he'd been missing. It was nice in small doses especially if he had something to constantly occupy himself with. No one would bother him. No one would interrupt him. Soon Malachi would be back again.

He also had one special word document that Malachi had created right before he passed. Vegeta had merely glanced at it before. He'd been incapable of reading it in all this time fearing the raw emotions he might feel if he did so. Even after reading the first few sentences, he could hear his voice in his head reading it to him. It hadn't sounded academic at all, but deeply personal written for an audience of one. Perhaps, as the ship drew closer to its destination, he'd finally be able to read it in its entirety or have Malachi explain it to him. He knew that was a bit cowardly, waiting until he was alive to read his last written words. It was difficult enough accepting his death, he did not want to become trapped into a downward spiral of despondency. Better to leave well enough alone and move on for the time being.

He had all the time in the world, and he planned to ease his way through whatever material he'd brought along. For now, he allowed the quietness to calm his often crowded mind. Whatever issues he had back on Earth would have to wait. He couldn't do anything about those things now. He was in space and far away from it all.

* * *

He felt like he was waking from a month-long daze by the time the ship alerted him to the landing it was making. There was no need to control the ship manually as its smart auto controls set the lightweight ship down with expert precision. When he climbed down the steps from the exit, he found himself in a desolate part of Namek, but that was unsurprising. Namekians lived in small villages strewn about the planet and spread far apart. He shot off into the air heading towards the most prominent ki signature—that had to be the grand elder. If not, well, he could always ask around.

Soaring through the green skies brought back memories, many of them unpleasant. When he'd first set foot on a planet very similar to this one, he'd been a different person. He hardly recognized that person now. Never in a million years did he think things would turn out as they did or that his own philosophy would change so drastically. Not to mention that even though he'd put on a brave face thinking that immortality was the answer to all his problems, he couldn't actually imagine a world without Frieza. Ever since he was born, that creature had always been part of his life and ruled over everything, controlling every event that ever occurred. Frieza had been an eternal menace and it was a fool's errand to try and defeat him, but he'd tried anyway. He'd failed in the end. Frieza had proved too powerful for him to conquer. Even if technically he could take him on now at his current level, Frieza remained undefeated in his mind, a nightmarish figure that would always haunt him. Perhaps if he saw him again, his fear would hamper his ability to fight. And it would be a crushing fear as his mind and body experienced the brutal defeat and senseless death he'd received. That trauma was still present and he shivered even as his visage flashed through his mind. Frieza was gone in reality, he had to keep reminding himself, but he was also always right around the corner.

Vegeta landed a little ways from the village so that he could walk through the entrance rather than coming from on high like an invading force. He wanted to seem as harmless as possible. He was sure Moori and the other elders would recognize him though. As he walked down the road through the central part of the village, he could feel many curious onlookers from afar and while he didn't exactly smile, he made sure he wasn't wearing his usual scowl.

"Vegeta!" Moori called out from the distance as he stepped out the front door. "We haven't seen you in ages!"

Clearly, he'd been informed of his arrival by the time he made it to the main dwelling. Namekians did have huge ears and they'd been chattering excitingly amongst themselves for a while now.

"Since the Big Gete Star," Vegeta noted.

"Ugh, don't remind me! I'm glad that nightmare was over. Did you bring anyone else with you?"

"Just me."

"That's too bad—I would have loved to catch up with Bulma again. How's she doing by the way?"

And thus the small talk began between them with Vegeta doing remarkably well keeping his growing irritation in check. He was going to be asking him a big favor and he was almost completely sure that Moori knew that he was here for a wish. Moori was a good-natured sort and was apparently missing some of the things he'd gotten into while on Earth at Bulma's compound. They'd gotten to know the Brief family quite well. Vegeta humored him and went into exhaustive details as to what had been happening on Earth since then. After all, how else was he going to find out? Namek was a bit of an isolated planet by choice. While they had decent technology, they were peace-loving and didn't want to get involved in interstellar politics. Since the last time he'd been there, they'd set up satellites that would shield them from most radars. It was partially why it had been so difficult for Bulma to find their planet. Moori apologized for the hassle they'd gone through just to find their planet and he gave him the means of contacting him again if they could figure out how to use certain frequencies. Moori gave him a device that would work in that way. Vegeta was sure Bulma could figure something out if she had a device to tinker with. The idea of keeping contact with another planet began to sound even better in his mind as he thought about it. They could keep each other updated on the events happening there and thus be better informed and more able to protect themselves. Earth was also a planet that would do well to isolate itself from invasions. They'd iron out the details later, but the idea of having a network of planets that always stayed in contact with one another and perhaps even protected each other whenever danger cropped up was something he'd be willing to spearhead if there were willing participants. Besides, Earth could certainly benefit from satellites that made it invisible to radar tracking.

"I know you came here to make a wish," Moori said abruptly changing the topic. They'd been talking for hours by then. "I've talked your ears off enough."

"Malachi, the man who was used as a vessel for that alien I was telling about—he's no longer alive. I would like to wish him back to life along with Aster Tyga, a little girl who was caught up in the crossfires of internal conflicts on Earth. And—

"You want to see if you can get rid of that artificial disease that's taken hold of the denizens," Moori finished.

"Exactly. And if it isn't too much of a bother, could you ask to bring Malachi here and then bring Aster back on Earth."

"I'm not sure about the disease, but it's always worth a try. As for the first one, that will be easy. I'll make sure to get all the details right."

"Thank you."

Moori laughed a little hysterically at this and this time Vegeta did not hide his annoyance as his scowl returned. "A Saiyan thanking me! What has this world come to?"

"Can you just get on with it already!" Vegeta spat embarrassed.

"Of course, of course," Moori said though his smile never left his face.

At least someone was being entertained. Vegeta was just anxious to get this over with. In his gut, things had begun to feel wrong. The plan was going too smoothly. Would he really be able to see Malachi in a few moment's time? There was something permanent about his death. Seeing his dead body placed into a casket, having an entire ceremony over his death and then having another more public one later on made it all seem so final. Somehow wishing him back didn't feel the same as wishing others back. The pain that he'd felt since his departure felt like a lasting one. Could it so easily be erased? Would he eventually have to confront it or simply pretend it hadn't existed in the first place once he was brought back? Either way, if he ever saw Malachi again, he was going to knock the shit out of him, peel him off the ground, and force him into his space ship where they could spend all the time in the world together without any distractions or interruptions. Or…something like that. It still sounded too good to be true.

Vegeta walked outside with Moori to the central part of town where the giant dragon balls had already been gathered for their convenience. Moori spoke the magic words in his native tongue and the powerful wishing dragon sprang forth. It had been a while since he'd seen the dragon up close. Light energy shot up into the sky eventually revealing the gargantuan dragon, the skies darkened, and Vegeta could hear the waves of the surrounding waters crashing angrily onto land. All the nearby Namekians had stepped out of their homes to see the spectacle play out. Porunga looked down at them from on high with its red eyes. Vegeta felt small and insignificant in its presence.

"Think wisely and I will grant three wishes within my power," the dragon bellowed at them.

"See? It's good a thing we discussed what the wishes were before we summoned him," Moori said looking back at him with a smile.

"Brilliant," Vegeta stated humorlessly with crossed arms.

Moori chuckled before turning back to the dragon. In his native tongue, he began with the first wish which was hopefully the one about reviving Malachi and Aster. After a moment, the dragon began to speak, the pit in Vegeta's stomach grew deeper.

"Aster has been returned to Earth, but Malachi is unreachable. It is beyond my power now to bring him back."

"What do you mean unreachable?!" Vegeta demanded in frustration.

"He is neither dead nor alive and thus unreachable."

"How does one even reach a state like that?"

"Either through some extreme emotional catalyst or having their essence destroyed after their departure from the living. I cannot tell which would be the case for this particular person. Now what is your next wish."

Vegeta stood there stunned as the ground seemed to disappear below his feet. He was glad Moori was the one stating the wishes because he would have found it difficult to concentrate.

"Hmm…" the dragon rumbled once Moori was finished, "Even though the disease is not natural it is well beyond my power to cure it, but for consolation, I will heal all Earthlings of their physical injuries."

His eyes glowed red once again and Vegeta could only assume that at that moment quite a few Earthlings were experiencing some form of relief even if the future for all of them seemed rather bleak.

"Was there anything else you wanted?" Moori asked him with sympathetic eyes.

"No, that was all." Vegeta did not feel like coming up with some silly spur of the moment wish—he just wasn't in the mood.

Moori spoke a few more words to Porunga.

"Your wishes have been granted. Farewell," the dragon bellowed before returning to the dragon balls.

Once the show was over, Vegeta felt weak and deflated. All that work, all that anticipation only for it to end like this. God, why did that boy have to be so weak? What emotions had he succumbed to once he'd arrived in Other World? What danger had he gotten himself into? What felt like months on Earth might have been years in Otherworld. He might have spent years in Hell. It could have been a somewhat pleasant experience, or it could have been one filled with suffering depending on what sort of punishment he'd received from Yemma. He really had no idea. All he knew was that Malachi was gone. Even saying it in his head…

"Vegeta, I'm sorry you couldn't get all your wishes granted," Moori said cutting through his darkening thoughts.

"Yeah," Vegeta said distantly, "You've been extremely cooperative, and I appreciate that. I'll have Bulma look at your device so that we can all stay in contact from now on."

Moori seemed to be studying his face much to his annoyance. "I'm sorry for your loss as well."

Vegeta scowled and then turned on his heel in the direction of the ship. "We'll speak again soon enough. Until then."

He eventually shot off into the sky, flying at unnecessarily fast speeds almost breaking the sound barrier just to make it to his ship that much sooner. To be honest, he wasn't sure why he'd volunteered to be the one doing this trip anyway. He didn't enjoy visiting Namek. Too many unpleasant memories would surface. He knew he'd probably have to deal with those nightmares again. In isolation, it would be much worse. It would be more like torture. But he hadn't intended to make the home trip alone. A month by himself wasn't so bad. Two months alone wouldn't be a good idea.

He didn't want anyone to see him crying. To this day, it was still deeply embarrassing and a fate worse than death. Of the times when others had seen him do such a thing, he'd wiped them from his memories. The sooner he was in his spaceship, the sooner he could allow himself to freely shed tears without the fear of someone walking in on him and judging him. He'd been taught early on to hide certain emotions, that it was unbecoming of a prince to reveal such vulnerabilities and those harsh lessons his father had imparted on him had stayed with him throughout his life even when it no longer made sense to uphold them. Even if it was often to his detriment. He wasn't a prince anymore anyway. It shouldn't matter. Yet it did. It was also liberating, very liberating as he cried in his hidden grief.

When he'd had his fill, he silently took out the storage device which held Malachi's document detailing his ongoing thoughts and understanding of the Instant Transmission technique. Vegeta remembered the moment he'd mentioned the technique to him. Malachi was capable of creating his own techniques and thinking outside the box, so he posed him a question which had stumped him to this day—how does one learn that particular move which doesn't take ki to use. Vegeta doubted Malachi had ever stopped thinking about it since that time. He read the first three sentences again: _This is silly, but I'm bored with nothing else better to do. The only thing I can contribute is my three theories on how IT might work though I am not in the right state of mind to try to them out myself. Maybe it could help a certain Saiyan Prince who likely loses sleep over the fact that he can't seem to figure it out—in the grand scheme of things, it's painfully insignificant but I've been foolishly drawn into this inane mystery so here's my two cents._

"Yeah, but I see you've written a 200-page essay on this 'insignificant' topic," Vegeta said out loud as if he were speaking to someone.

"Only because I knew you'd like it," Malachi replied.

Vegeta turned, startled, to the source of the voice. In the second seat which sat in front of the other console, sat Malachi with his dark, shoulder-length hair shiny and well-groomed, porcelain skin and dark clothing. He looked nothing like he had in the days before his passing, but how he'd seen him when he was first introduced to him. It felt like another time.

"B-But…you're not real," Vegeta said confused.

"We both know that," he said with a grin. "There's no way I could be on this ship right now. I'm just a figment of your imagination."

Vegeta knew it even before he said it and he didn't care. The man was practically sparkling—of course this wasn't really him.

"So you wrote all this just for entertainment purposes," Vegeta asked.

"I like the idea of you reading something I wrote. The same way I can't help but feel honored knowing that you might listen to my music. Like I said, I was bored. I hope it helps you."

"That's yet to be seen. This might have been a monumental waste of your time."

Malachi chuckled at this but gave no reply.

"How has it been in Hell?" Vegeta asked despite himself.

"You would know, wouldn't you? You've been there before."

"How would you know that?"

"Because I'm not real and you're only imagining what I might say and also doing a terrible job at it."

Vegeta frowned at this. "And yet somehow I've accurately captured how annoying you can be."

"Don't think I forgot about our little deal by the way. I tell you about myself and you do the same. I'm pretty sure you know far more about me than I do about you. I don't mind really, but I was always curious, always wondering about you."

"Maybe were you here right now, I might have been more forthcoming, but you chose to screw everything up."

"Hm, well, apologies for not living up to your expectations, your highness."

"Malachi," Vegeta said slowly, "What happened to you?"

Though Malachi had been looking at him, now his gaze turned to the stars beyond. "In life, there was nothing left for me there. I'd become a burden to everyone around me and I ruined everything that I touched."

"Why do you insist on painting the worst picture of yourself?" Vegeta said with gritted teeth. "You do that even when everyone around you says different. How can you ignore all the people who adore you even to this day, even without you being there?"

"I don't know, Vegeta," he said looking at him once again. "I do tend to focus on my faults rather than my strengths—it's a bad habit of mine. Despondency and guilt are such familiar, inescapable sensations that I often find myself drowning in it and pretending as if it isn't happening. I got quite good at pretending. I think I fooled almost everyone."

"Almost."

Malachi gave him a knowing look. "Once upon a time, someone I truly cared about died and ever since I've felt guilty about not being able to do anything about it. Why did I deserve to live over that other person? I couldn't understand it. I was too young to understand it and the only other adults around me only sought to use me for their own gains and I learned from them that it was better simply to treat people that way even though it felt so unfulfilling in the end."

"You never mentioned that before, but I always suspected that was the case. No one I've met who knew you in the past, knew anything about your time at the orphanage. You never talk about it in your interviews or biographies. You only told me on that day, information that was far more exclusive than I even realized. But even then, your memories were unreliable. At the time, even if you had wanted to share more, it would have been impossible. When I heard that story from Quint, I wondered to what extent you'd restructured the past in your mind. I suppose I'll never really know."

"Is it really so important? None of it matters now," he replied with some defensiveness in his tone.

"It matters to me."

"And why is that?"

"Because…living a life in which you were never able to find true peace, that is a waking nightmare of mine. Because settling on Earth didn't have to happen for me. Meeting Bulma didn't have to happen. In fact, at the time, I wasn't looking for any of those things and now that I have them, now that I've been allowed those luxuries, I realized that my former station in life was utterly terrifying. And you never quite found that sort of thing before you died, not entirely."

"Perhaps in another life I might do such a thing. Perhaps never."

"It was Dende's doing. He sought to punish you and I know it must have made things worse for you, made you think even less about yourself than you already do. Now it seems as if you've given up. What would Bra think? She's barely holding it together."

"She needs to know what the pain of loss feels like. Maybe then she might mature and grow as a person. She might learn to think past herself knowing that not doing so led to my demise.

"How could you say that!" Vegeta said angrily, "I don't need to torture my daughter in that way in order for her to learn!"

"She would eventually suffer some kind of loss. You can't go through life having not experienced that. It's impossible, unless your own life is unfortunately shortened. Most of us will lose our parents at some point as they age naturally. Most of us will lose some close relative or a friend at some point. That's how life works. So, yes, one does mature from suffering, but only out of necessity and not because of some perverted enjoyment out of it. That's what I mean. But I'm sure you knew that already."

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I have to tell Bra. I have to tell everyone. Malachi?...Malachi?"

Malachi was no longer sitting there. He'd vanished from his vision. In that moment, he felt immensely tired. It was as if he'd spent the entire day training under an impossible amount of gravity. Instead, he'd just been sitting there talking to himself like a raving lunatic. He fell asleep promptly even as he still heard Malachi's fading voice somewhere in the distance.

__

_Good night, Vegeta. There's a secret there in my last written exchange to you. Find it. That technique has always been in your reach and I have brought you much closer to understanding it. Find it._

* * *

He'd been in and out of sleep and he hadn't been keeping up with the passing days. It was already easy enough to do that while in space, but now there was the added grief that he was still feeling. He read the unpolished essay on and off not really understanding what he was reading but that he was making progress. If there was really some secret there, he likely would miss it. But he knew there wasn't a secret. He knew that for a fact. It was just a thing that he told himself as if Malachi in the state that he was while writing this would have had enough energy and care to add some obtuse secret hidden between the lines. No. It was a ridiculous notion.

It took him who-knows-how-long to finish the confusing read that often left him feeling as if he had both discovered how to unlock the universe and how to do absolutely nothing with a lot of run-on sentences. His dreams were a baffling jumble, and completely incomprehensible. He also felt like he was losing his mind though he'd had no further dialogue with Malachi. He felt as if he would sleep for days before waking up and it was during one of these episodes that Bulma tried to contact him. He was abruptly drawn out of his sleep when the ship started alerting him with increasing fervor—a nice and annoying feature that Bulma had installed on the ship. His eyes must have been bloodshot as he wrestled himself out of his impossibly deep slumber and he sat up with blurry vision looking for the button to accept the transmission.

"Oh! Vegeta, are you alright? Did I wake you?"

"Don't act all concerned now. You're the one who put in that damned alarm!"

Bulma could barely contain her smile. "Well, it worked didn't it? Also, I'm sorry 'cus it looked like you were really asleep."

"What do you want?"

"What do you mean, what do I want? You haven't contacted me in over a month! I thought something bad had happened. I've been trying to keep everyone calm all on my own. Aster's here, but Malachi isn't. And Auden's been acting even more weird than usual now that she's back—not that I went to visit him or anything, but Chi-Chi's been telling me things."

"I made it to New Namek, had Moori deliver the wishes to Porunga, was told that Malachi was unreachable and that he couldn't do anything about the disease—though he did heal everyone of their physical injuries."

"Wait, wait, unreachable?"

"He's neither living or dead so his essence is unreachable."

"Oh no—did someone kill him while he was already dead? I heard that could happen, but I've never seen it before. How could that happen?"

"I don't know what happened. Nobody knows. The dragon couldn't tell me anything. Maybe Dende could speak to someone who might know more."

"Don't worry, Vegeta, I'll get that bastard to talk to me. I need to know the details. That's the very least he can do."

She was already tearing up and he really didn't want to watch her cry, but he did, resisting the urge to end the transmission right then and there. He could feel his own tear ducts burning again.

"That poor boy," Bulma said when she could speak again, "It's always something, isn't it? He always seems to be suffering. No matter what. He can't even die in peace. It's not fair."

"Enough, Bulma, there's nothing else we can do."

"I know, but it's just shitty."

He found himself staring in a daze at the screen before him and noticing the tiny pixels. He felt as if he'd learned something in that moment, but he couldn't figure out what. Maybe he'd officially lost his mind. It had been a long time coming and he had had a good run…What was it? How could he know something and not know what it was at the same time? It was brain-numbing really.

"Hey, Vegeta—Earth to Vegeta, are you alright?"

He barely registered her speaking. "What was it?" he said under his breath.

"Seriously, Vegeta, look at me—you're making me worried."

"What?" he said sharply not taking kindly to her interruption. It felt as if he was on the verge of figuring out whatever information he had unconsciously deciphered.

"I knew it was a bad idea to send you out there alone. I should have contacted you sooner—

"Wait, I think I have it," he said climbing out of his seat.

"What are you—

"Watch this," Vegeta said with barely contained excitement.

In a moment, he felt his body burst into a different location instantaneously. He performed the technique a few more times to make sure it hadn't been just a fluke. Without even the need to place fingers on his head, he had done it. At least, he thought he'd done it. He remembered Goku describing it as if he was traveling extremely fast through time and space. This felt more like teleportation. He didn't feel like he was running to the next location, but that he was simply appearing at that location. Whatever the case, he'd done it or done something similar.

"You can finally do it!" Bulma said realizing what she was being shown. "Now you can stop wearing me to death about it."

Vegeta teleported back to the seat feeling far too accomplished to be affected by Bulma's slight jab. "Finally—and out of nowhere. I guess I'm getting something out of all this isolation."

"So that means you can just teleport back here, right?"

"Yes, and leave your spaceship unattended. I don't know if I'd try something so long distance so soon. I just learned it today. Might need some practice."

"But I don't get it. How did you just 'learn' it all of a sudden?"

"Malachi told me—I mean, I read it in some document that he wrote right before he died."

"He was always in that room typing on something," Bulma said thoughtfully. "And I heard that slip up," she said in a quieter tone. "Sometimes I do that too…Imagine he's here to talk to and then I bounce ideas off of him as if it isn't just me bouncing my own ideas off of myself. I know he's not real. I know he couldn't possibly be there, but it's nice sometimes."

"Didn't even need to be locked in a room by yourself for weeks."

"Maybe I was locked in my lab for a while. Maybe I bought a cute little Malachi plushie to cope with all the grief. I mean, I swear I can't shop anywhere without seeing some Malachi memorabilia—Quint really went all out trying to profit off the man. I couldn't resist after a while. I would hide it anytime someone came in, but I guess I can just keep it out in the open now. He's not coming back anyway. I guess you want to get back to your sleep right about now."

"Not really. I'm wide awake now. How long has it been anyway?"

"You make me so worried sometimes," she said with a sigh, "If you made it to New Namek in the estimated time frame then it's been two weeks since you've been traveling back. Look at the GPS, how much time do you have left?"

"Two and a half weeks," Vegeta said after a moment of switching to a different window after clicking through a few menus.

"Sounds about right."

"What time is it where you are?" he asked curious.

"Midnight. I couldn't sleep so I called you."

"I can't wait to see you again," he said unabashedly, mirroring Malachi's confidence when it came to such situations.

"Me too."

"Stay here a while with me."

"I will, for as long as you need."


	16. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aster finds herself back on Earth and all is not as it seems.

Aster found herself alone near the pond behind the mall. She remembered walking here, but she had no idea why no one was around. Jensen was gone. All was quiet. She sat down near the pond for a while trying to piece together what might have happened, but nothing was making sense. She gazed mutely at the still surface of the water until she decided it was better just to walk all the way home. Nothing was open nearby unless she went to the gas station that was across the street once she made it out of the mall area. She didn't feel comfortable speaking to strangers and it wasn't as if she knew anyone's number by heart; she barely knew her own. She hadn't the slightest clue where her cellphone had gone. She'd had it on her, but it had mysteriously disappeared. The eeriness of the situation had not left her since the moment she'd "awakened".

Having no other course of action, she trudged back through the park and began the long two-hour trek home. She didn't know what time it was only that it must have been past 9 in the evening. Maybe it was already midnight. She appeared like a lost, little girl wandering the streets. She tried to walk purposefully and quickly, but she couldn't shake the strangeness. She felt anxious anytime a car would drive by a little too slowly. She wished Jensen was there with her. It would have been enjoyable. Maybe they could have flown back home and be back in record time.

When she saw the familiar apartments looming in the distance, her legs were quite sore. It had taken much longer than two hours—more like four hours at her irregular speed. She'd never walked that far before even though she'd done her fair share of walking in the past. She just wanted to see Daddy again. She wanted to make sure the world still made sense even if nothing was at the moment.

Her pace had increased as she sprinted across the street and into the complex. Their apartment was near the front much to her relief. The stairs nearly took her out as she climbed them, but she was glad to finally knock on the door. The ordeal was over. When she knocked, however, no one came to the door and she sighed exasperatedly to herself. It was late. Daddy was probably thoroughly asleep by now especially since he had to get up early for work—assuming tomorrow was a workday. If it wasn't, it would probably be even worse as he would often sleep in longer. She knocked a few more times even as the situation was looking hopeless. Eventually, she just let her forehead lean on the door. She'd made it though. That was the most important part. Someone was bound to leave the place at some point. Then she heard approaching feet—it had to be Daddy because it matched his gait. She straightened herself so that she'd be visible through the peephole. Daddy was a cautious man who probably wouldn't open it until he looked through. To her surprise, however, as soon as he stepped close enough to the door, he opened it as if he'd known who'd been behind it. Things remained quite surreal and Aster didn't know what to expect anymore.

"Who are you?" Daddy asked as he looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It's me, silly!" Aster said laughing.

"You can't be her. She's dead. I know that for a fact."

"What do you mean? I'm right here!"

"Keep your voice down—it's almost 2 in the morning," he admonished.

"Oh, sorry, but it's true what I said," she said in a loud whisper. "Did I really…?"

"I don't know what you've done, but I know that my daughter died. I don't know who you are even if you bear a striking resemblance to her. Did someone put you up to this? Is this somebody's bad attempt at a joke?"

"No, Daddy, it's me—it's really me."

"Don't call me that."

"What?" she said confused.

"It's Mr. Tyga to you. Now, it's late. I'm sure your parents or whoever takes care of you is worried about you being out."

To her horror, he began to close the door. She had to place her foot in the way of the door to stop him from closing it completely. Her look became determined.

"I don't have anywhere else to go—you are my parent."

"Child, I've had enough of your games."

At this point, she wasn't even sure she was even speaking to Daddy even if he looked just like him. "You're just going to leave me out here? You would just leave a child out on her own like this?"

"Do you really not have anywhere else to go?" he asked, his voice had softened.

"No," she said shaking her head and trying to look as pitiful as possible. It looked like the only way she was going to get in was by guilt-tripping him. And that seemed to be an easier task than convincing him that she was who she said she was.

He opened the door wider. "I can't just leave you out here—it's dangerous. We'll figure out what to do in the morning—or later on in the day," he finished, correcting himself when he realized it was technically already morning.

Aster was finally able to step inside. That was a relief. She was making some progress at least, but she didn't fully understand what was going on.

"You may take the couch, child. I hope you don't make a habit of this. It's not a good idea to walk into strange men's apartments in the middle of the night. I'm sure your parents must have told you that."

"Yeah, you did, Daddy."

He didn't respond and it became so silent that she finally risked looking up at him as she felt his gaze. Maybe he was realizing something now. He had the strangest look on his face as if he'd seen a ghost. Maybe she was a ghost. It would explain why she still felt so strange.

"It's Mr. Tyga, child," he said hoarsely.

Aster didn't even bother answering him. She just shrugged and then stretched out on the couch. He could believe what he wanted. She was back home and she was tired. She didn't feel like fighting him on trying to sleep in her room. Maybe they all just needed to sleep on it. He eventually left her to her own devices. She was on the verge of falling asleep before realizing that she could just go to her room now that no one was looking. Maybe that might upset him, but this was getting ridiculous. It was her room and she much preferred sleeping in her bed.

She promptly made her way down the short hall to her room. The room always had its door closed so that didn't throw her off, but when she opened it and found Jensen there, all she could do was stare. Had he snuck in or had Daddy really allowed him to stay? Her vote was the former, but how had he done it? It's not like he had the key and the window could only be opened from the inside. Maybe he'd messed with Daddy's mind again to make him let him stay. Either way, she was glad to see him.

He was turned away and soundly asleep. She shook him gently and he roused himself soon after looking about in confusion. The bright light from outside was enough to illuminate the room somewhat but it was probably quite the adjustment for him.

"Hey, it's me Aster," she said quietly.

She caught his attention quickly and his confused expression turned into a smile. "It's really you—you're back."

Aster found herself in his strong, warm embrace. She didn't know how much she needed that until now. She almost started crying, but she caught herself. She simply enjoyed his closeness. Why did it feel like it had been a long time? What exactly had happened? The hug lasted for a while, but she didn't care. He didn't want to let her go and she craved his warmth at the moment. No one was watching. No one could judge them.

"Alright," she said once she had her fill, "I'm about to fall asleep on my feet."

"Oh, sorry. I don't know how all of this works, but you must be tired."

"Do you know what happened because I sure as hell don't." Aster was already climbing on the bed to her spot—the spot that Jensen had apparently been keeping warm. If he wanted it back, that was too bad—her bed, her spot.

He chuckled a little as he too joined her. "Don't worry, I wasn't trying to steal your spot—I was just…waiting for you. I'll tell you everything that happened, but you have to believe me."

"I always believe you, Jensen. Why would you lie about this?"

"It might be a lot to swallow."

"After tonight, I think I'll believe anything. Besides, I don't want to be like Daddy who's completely clueless. He doesn't even think I am who I say I am!"

"What? He can just _look_ at you and see that you're his daughter. How can you be in that much denial?"

"Well, Daddy's always been an expert in missing obvious cues. Anyways, I'll deal with him tomorrow. In the meantime, tell me what happened."

From there, Jensen told her what he knew both from his own experiences and what Daddy had told him. It really was a fantastical tale. If Jensen hadn't been telling her, then she would have thought it was made up. She really had died. It explained the dream which now was likely real she'd had about being up in the clouds waiting in a very long line with weird colorful horned men wandering around holding megaphones. She was just glad to be back safe and sound beside Jensen. Her plans for the future had only been slightly derailed. Now that she was alive again, she was even more determined to build the future she'd envisioned—one that she'd been too intimidated to voice out loud. Life was too short.

* * *

Aster woke up completely entangled with her lovely boyfriend and she didn't mind that at all. When she moved to get up, this alerted him as well as he yawned and stretched with bones cracking all the while. He was practically an old man.

"I have an idea," Aster said sitting up. He looked at her questioningly. "If I could get my DNA tested and matched to myself, then he'd have to believe that I'm Aster."

"DNA tested? That seems a bit extreme. Can't you just tell him something only you would know?"

"That might work for a normal person, but this is Daddy we're talking about. He always says you need extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims. So that won't be enough. I need cold, hard evidence and what's more solid than DNA?"

"But there's one problem. Is your DNA already on file somewhere?"

"It is actually. I even have a copy of it. I had my DNA tested twice: one time when Daddy was trying to win custody and another when I was being diagnosed with Emily's Syndrome—the one that stops growth after a certain amount of time. So there's extensive information about my DNA on file in several places. Daddy has a copy too and I'm sure he could hack into some server to get it if push came to shove."

"I guess we could ask Bulma to do a quick DNA test—she has all those medical devices at her disposal. She practically has an on-site hospital that's fully stocked and who knows what else."

"That's great! That means we can get this over with before the morning is up. C'mon, Jensen, let's go before anyone wakes up."

"Geez, are we really in that much of a rush? Let's chill out here for a while."

"This is serious. The way he looked at me like that—I can't let that happen again. It's really…" she didn't want to finish the sentence, but she looked down at the blanket shivering at how cold his eyes had been. Was that how everyone else saw him?

She just wanted everything to be normal again, for her father to simply accept her. After all that had happened, it would be a shame if he went on thinking his daughter was still dead and that she was some imposter. After a bit more pushing on her part, she finally got Jensen out of bed. They quickly made themselves up in the bathroom and then rushed out the door before her father noticed anything. She supposed it must have been the weekend. Even if it wasn't, she couldn't do her usual routine of getting him up—he'd probably be horrified.

It was quite the treat being flown over to the Briefs on top of Jensen. She held on tight to him and he flew effortlessly. It was a powerful and wonderful feeling cutting through the clouds and looking down on the populace. They landed near a smaller building on the property.

"This is where she is usually," Jensen said as he knocked on the door.

Aster recognized it as the place she'd had to rescue her father from once upon a time. She'd be on her best behavior this time since she had a favor to ask.

"So Vegeta must have made the wish," Bulma said as she opened the door with the beginning of a smile.

"Wait," Jensen said as realization came to his face, "That means Dad must be…"

Her smile faded a little, "Well, we don't exactly know the details. Perhaps he's back, but he's not anywhere nearby."

"He'd be at home, right?" Jensen said with some giddiness in his tone, "He'd be right where he passed away just like Aster."

"Well—

Bulma didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence as Jensen took off likely towards his father's place. Aster watched his disappearing form before turning back to Bulma.

"There he goes," Aster shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be back once he finds Malachi."

"I hope so. I hope everything went exactly to plan. He hasn't contacted me so maybe something came up. I'll wait a little while before bugging him. Anyways, what brings you here? Just wanted to hang out here for a while?"

"No," Aster said earnestly, "It's Daddy. He doesn't think I'm what I say I am. He almost didn't let me in."

"Are you serious? He can't be _that_ crazy. Surely seeing with his eyes should be enough to convince him that you're back."

She shook her head. "He's that crazy. So I need you to take my DNA and then match it with the one on file. That'll do the trick."

Bulma sighed. "I'm so sorry you have to go through all this with your stubborn father. C'mon, let's get this cleared up. I would call him and tell him he's being stupid, but Vegeta made me promise that I don't make contact with him."

"Really? Why's that?" Aster asked curious.

Bulma who'd been walking towards the large console in the back of the room looked back at her with a slightly confused look. "He hasn't…told you anything?"

"I mean, he always says he doesn't really trust CC, but he's always super cautious about big companies anyways. Wait, don't take it personal, he's just a little weird like that and—

"It's alright, honey. That's an open secret of his. He doesn't trust very many things. He's always been like that somewhat. But I guess he doesn't talk to you about me."

Aster looked at her puzzled. "Is there anything I need to know about you two? Did you guys know each other or something?"

"You know what? Let's get going with that test," Bulma said with a smile that Aster sensed was incredibly forced.

She didn't feel like probing further, but she knew there was much more to the story. Why would Vegeta of all people tell her to not contact her father? What was his stake in it? She supposed the last time she'd known her father even speaking with Bulma, it hadn't ended well, but that was just her father being off his meds again. If it was something serious, her father had never seen fit to tell her. Maybe she'd ask later, but there was probably a good reason he didn't talk about it and Aster didn't want to risk reopening closed wounds.

Bulma pulled out a scanner after typing for a while. "I'll just use CC's state of the art DNA matching software—it's the very same that the federal and local law enforcement uses, but this one's private, don't worry."

"It's okay. My DNA is already on file somewhere."

"Surely, not as a criminal."

"No, but it's probably in the database."

"Ah, I see," Bulma said as she continued clicking through windows and files. "Saves me the trouble of looking up your medical record. Yep, here it is. A custody battle huh?" She stood up straighter gazing at the words scrawled across the screen. "I remember that," she said softly to herself.

Aster waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "Yeah, Daddy told me that as soon as he showed interest in taking custody, the mother came out of the woodworks to try and win me back. I didn't even know the woman by that time. She didn't stand a chance—at least that's what he told me."

"He had a well-paying job, passed multiple psyche tests, and had already made arrangements for taking care of a child. Not to mention that she'd…Well, I don't know how much you know, but she was an unfit mother."

"I know what she did to him," Aster said plainly. "I know that she put me up for adoption as soon as I was born."

"So he really told you that?" Bulma asked surprised.

"It wasn't easy, if that's what you're getting at. I used to bug him all the time about my mother. After he took me in, that's all I wanted to know. One day, he broke down and told me. He still has nightmares about it. I know that's why he has to take all that medication. The adoption part—I found out on my own after doing a bit of snooping."

"I guess it'd be pretty hard to keep all of that to himself the whole time especially since it changed his life so much." She turned to her then. "Alright, now all you have to do is stand still and let the device do the work."

Aster stood perfectly still as Bulma held the small white device near her neck. After a small beep, Bulma announced that she was done and that they'd be getting some results in a few seconds.

"Geez, that fast?"

"Of course—it's CC, we pride ourselves on efficiency and all that."

Aster was looking up at the huge screen and watching the computer compare the strands of DNA side by side. She had no idea what she was looking at. A few seconds passed very quickly and became two minutes and then five minutes.

"Hm, weird," Bulma said to herself.

Then the results popped up on the screen in red: NO MATCH. Aster stared at the screen not understanding.

"Let's try it again," Bulma said with a laugh, "Sometimes there's false negatives…"

 _Yeah, real efficient…_ Aster was standing still as Bulma repeated the process. They ended up repeating the process quite a few times and getting the same results.

"Okay, let me do a different search. Are the two samples related in anyway?"

Bulma tapped on the keyboard and the computer started working again. This time words appeared in green: FAMILIAL RELATION.

"But that's so vague! I didn't even know that was even a readout. Usually, it's more exact," Bulma said as she began tapping away at the keyboard.

After a while, Aster grew a bit bored watching Bulma's antics. Maybe the software was crappy and she'd have to go to an actual expert to get her match.

"I don't know what to say. It's not matching. I've checked again and again and the data that we have of your DNA before your death is definitely you. It's the very same that was used to verify your relation to Auden. I checked that as well. You're clearly his daughter using the old DNA, but with this new sample, you just have a familial relation and not specifically daughter. All of this is really strange…"

"Is your machine broken?"

"No, it's working properly. I've checked that as well. All of this means that technically, you're not the same person you used to be. Something is different about your DNA—different enough to place you into this gray area DNA-wise, but close enough to still be considered in the same family as you were born from. This is…This is…kind of blowing my mind right now. It almost makes me want to test things out further to see if this is isolated or not. Think of the implications. Do we only have different DNA when we're brought back with new bodies? Or is it the case even if the same body is used? Not to mention that Earth has been annihilated before—would that mean records of criminals' DNA are all inaccurate when we're brought back? Is this a phenomenon that's gone under the radar?"

"Do I have enough evidence to prove that I'm really me or not?" Aster demanded frustrated in light of Bulma's newfound fascination. "I seriously don't know what I'm going to do if this falls through."

Bulma looked at her sympathetically. "It's not really enough to prove you're you, but it does prove that you're still related to him in some way. That's should intrigue him enough to eventually just accept you. I'm sure he'll be just as stumped as I am."

"What am I then if I'm not Aster?"

"That's a good question. I guess I'm getting philosophical, but if you have the same memories as that person, then you are that person essentially. You believe you're Aster, right?"

Aster nodded vigorously.

"Then that should be enough. For all intents and purposes, you are Aster."

Aster looked away when she said this. "I don't think he'll see it that way. I might have just lost my father…" For some reasons, her eyes started to burn. She stopped herself from crying.

"No, no, honey, don't be so dramatic. I'll just—I'll have someone else talk to him. He'll listen to reason."

"He thinks I'm dead," Aster said as realization came over her. "That's the reality that he lives in and he will always think that I'm dead. Thinking I'm alive again? That would be too much. Seeing my corpse…it's too much even for me to picture. I can't imagine how he would feel seeing that. He can never unsee it. Then I just stroll in and claim to be his lost daughter like it's some fairytale as if all that pain was just a fun little activity to do for a while. I think I understand why he didn't just accept me so easily. I was asking too much of him."

"He just needs to get over himself," Bulma said clearly annoyed. "Ugh, I swear he makes everything so difficult."

Aster turned to her. "You know, I almost thought you knew Daddy pretty well, but you don't really know him at all, do you?"

"I didn't mean to sound unsympathetic and I understand how painful it can be losing someone you love, but when that person is back, who in their right minds would choose to ignore that? Who would choose to stay sad about it? At least give that person a chance in the first place to see if they really are who they say they are if you're really having such an identity crisis."

"Daddy would never do that. It's better to be as objective as possible when it comes to proving something. I'm sure he wants me to come back to life and it wouldn't be that hard to believe someone who says that they're your daughter under those circumstances—it would be a decision based on feelings alone and not any facts. I…just don't know what to do."

"You can just stay here for the time being. We certainly have the room. Then when Vegeta gets back, he can talk some sense into him."

Aster looked up to her a little frustrated. "He's not wrong though. I'm not me. I'm someone else. Ever since Jensen told me what happened, I've felt this disconnect like I'm not really the same person. Now with the DNA test, it's confirmed. I'm not me."

"Quit it, Aster. You're Aster and you always will be."

"I just have her memories…"

"This is a lot of new information you're taking in, okay sweetie. We'll get this all figured out."

"Stop treating me like a confused child. I'm not me anymore. She really died on that day and I'm just an imp—

"Don't say it," Bulma interrupted. "The dragon balls brought you back to life and they've brought plenty of other people back to life before. You're not the first nor will you likely be the last. The people we've brought back all just continue on with their lives as usual. You can definitely do the same in time."

"I know what you're saying. It's easy just to go on and play my role as the person I firmly believe I am. I woke up and knew that I was Aster. I went right back home to resume my life. If everyone had just accepted me, I probably wouldn't even question it. It would still be a little strange, but I'd have moved on quickly. But now I can't ignore what I've learned today and I can't just lie to Daddy. I'm not going to pretend as if he's completely off base either like you are."

"Aster…"

"You know I'm right. I'm sorry, but I just can't 'pretend' as if everything is the same. Maybe it's because I'm not really part of this 'world' where people fly everywhere and fight these huge battles with flashy lights. Maybe it's because I just want to be truthful to myself."

"Alright, Aster, then you tell me. Who are you?" Bulma asked neutrally.

"I…don't know," she said shaking her head slowly. "I just don't know."

"What should we call you?"

"I don't know that either."

"There's a lot of things you seem to not know and these are just the easy questions."

"It's okay. I don't know is a perfectly valid answer. It means that I can keep searching for the right answer, if there is one to be found in the first place."

Bulma wore a grin on her face. "You're just like your father—adding complication where there is none. Alright, well, I won't argue with you. You'll believe what you want to believe. One day, you'll understand things a little better. For now, I have to get back to work. My home is completely open to you; just try not to get yourself in trouble."

"Okay," Aster replied.

She was too deep in thought to have anything else enlightening to say so she left promptly. Strangely enough, Jensen hadn't come back and once again she noticed that she didn't have her phone. Perhaps her little pink cellphone with a white polka dot kitty as the keychain was gone forever. It had been on her at the time she was killed. Aster ran back into the lab to get her father's number from Bulma and then she ran off for the nearest phone so that she could call him.

She rang his phone for ages before he picked up. He might have still been asleep.

"Yes?" her father said with obvious irritation.

"Hi, this is the little girl who knocked on your door—

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to. I was worried something bad might have happened. Maybe you got lost. Where are you now?"

His irritation had disappeared completely and he genuinely sounded worried. That warmed her heart more than anything else. Even to some random child he didn't know, he seemed to care. It likely helped that she reminded him so much of his own daughter. Not to mention, she still believed that she was his daughter even knowing that that wasn't the case. It was difficult to keep straight in her head.

"I'm at the Brief's place. I wanted to get some cold, hard evidence that I was really your daughter, but all I found was more questions. My DNA didn't match Aster's."

"It didn't?"

Aster was surprised to hear the astonishment in his voice. Did he secretly already consider her to be Aster then? "Nope. Bulma ran the test several times and that's the conclusion."

"But you're related in some way perhaps?"

"I'm related in some way. I just don't know what specifically."

"You sound like her…You sound just like her over the phone. I feel like I'm dreaming."

"I feel like I'm her too."

"Maybe…that's all that matters," he said a bit more quietly.

"Daddy?"

"Please," he said with some strain in his voice, "Please don't call me that."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's not that I don't believe you think you are who you say you are, it's just that I know that she passed away. I know that she's gone and I want to respect her memory. I don't want to pretend as if it never happened."

"I don't want you to. I don't want to replace anyone, but I also don't know who I am."

"You were brought back by forces we'll never even begin to understand. Even everyone talking about these dragon balls don't really know how they work. They just use them and see that things happen afterward. Magic. The supernatural. All of it completely untested. It goes beyond reality. I can't fathom it. All I know is that you're here because someone made a wish. I'll have to just accept you."

"Th-thank you, Mr. Tyga."

"Just call me Auden. Do you mind, if I call you something different?"

"I'd love it if you picked out a name for me just like you did before when—well, just like before."

"When I told Aster about her mother, she wanted nothing more to do with her. She wanted a new name and she wanted me to come up with a suitable one."

"Yeah, just like that. Choose another one for me."

"I was thinking: Avil."

"Another 'A' name?" she asked with a laugh.

"I thought I might keep the tradition going. But you don't have to just agree with me so quickly."

"No, it's fine. I like that name. It's fitting. From her on out, you can call me Avil."

"Well, Avil, if you need someone to pick you up, I can do that if you want."

"Actually, I do need to be picked up. Jensen just took off looking for his dad. He hasn't come back yet and I don't have a cellphone."

"We'll have to get you a new one. I'll be right there."

* * *

When Vegeta stepped back on Earth, he was immediately accosted by Jensen who demanded to know where his father was. It came down to him explaining the same thing he'd told Bulma on the trip back. For whatever reason, no one had bothered to tell him or they had and he hadn't listened.

"That just sounds made up," Jensen accused.

"Oh? And using dragon balls to bring people back to life doesn't sound made up? I don't know all the rules and no one knows what happened to your father once he was in Other World. I was hoping Dende might be able to shed some light since he can make contact with people there."

"He hasn't helped us so far," Jensen said with crossed arms.

He followed him inside as Vegeta sought out his wife who'd claimed that she would ask the guardian. It had been weeks since that time. He hoped she had something useful or he'd have to be making a trip over to Dende. He wasn't exactly in the mood to be threatening people and that fact would only make it worse for the person he was threatening.

Bulma was just coming out the back of her lab into the front. "You made it back safe and sound," she said relieved. "After the last time we spoke, you never called me back and I didn't want to be a bother."

"It was pretty uneventful," Vegeta admitted, "You didn't miss anything." He glanced over at Jensen who was already getting impatient. They had promised him the impossible it seemed. He hated the idea of getting his hopes up only for it to be dashed in the end. Jensen was one thing. Bra would be quite another. But perhaps he'd dodged the worst of it. Maybe Bulma had told her at least. "What did Dende have to say?"

"He told me that it wouldn't be an easy task locating him in Other World. He didn't have his body. He contacted King Yemma and it seems like things are getting a bit hectic up there again. Denizens in Hell are stirring up problems. Dende was told that King Yemma had placed him somewhere isolated from the others. From there…" Bulma looked away before she finished. "It seems like he's lost the will to live. They said it's more common in people without physical bodies. Vegeta, didn't you not have a body when you were in Hell?"

The way she casually brought up a topic he didn't like talking about in front of Jensen was astounding, but he humored her. "I didn't have a body when I was there, yes. On Earth, not too much time had passed, but it felt like I'd been there an eternity. I wasn't isolated from everyone though. Let's just say that it wasn't pleasant. I was glad to have my body back and at the time I was also anxious to have another go at Buu. I can see how one could lose their will to live while there. It's not like he knew that he was going to be wished back. He knew of the dragon balls, but I doubt he was staking his life on them since he'd never seen them before."

Jensen, who'd been watching them intently soon turned away. "So that's it, isn't it? It's over. He's not coming back. He just gave up."

"We don't really know what happened," Vegeta said moving to stand beside him. "All we have is secondhand information from King Yemma through Dende."

"He was alone again," Jensen said referring to his father. "Maybe that was the last straw." He looked up at Vegeta solemnly.

Vegeta was at a loss of words. He hadn't been planning on dealing with all of this as soon as he got home, but here he was. "I'm…sorry."

Jensen looked at him for a moment longer and then walked away clearly wanting to be alone. Vegeta imagined that he probably wouldn't be staying here for long. He was forever taking off for Aster. Since she was back, he expected more of the same.

"That went better than expected," Bulma said.

"You told Bra, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I did. Don't worry. It wasn't fun and there were a lot of tears. It was like losing him all over again. Bra isn't doing so good, but give her some time, she always bounces back."

Bulma was being far too optimistic and Vegeta wondered if it was simply for his sake. Bra had been a wreck when she'd simply broken up with Malachi—when it seemed like he didn't want to be with her. This was much more final and it was something Bra had never experienced before. Had she ever fallen for someone like she'd fallen for Malachi? To lose him so early on? No one really 'bounced back' from things like that. He knew that he wouldn't were he in her shoes.

Looking for a distraction, now that he was satisfied with the fact that everyone pertinent who needed to know what happened with Malachi now knew, he took off for Tien's dojo. Vegeta had told him about his departure ahead of time and Tien was largely unfazed by it even though Vegeta taught a few classes. He'd been in the midst of expanding. His dojo had become quite the hotspot in such a small town and slowly tourism was increasing in the area. His tiny dojo would soon be much larger as he drafted plans to construct more space for the building. Tien was nothing if not ambitious—a side of him that Vegeta hadn't known was there, but then he didn't know him all that well to begin with. Also Launch was always looking for ways to expand the business. The way she went on about there needing to be a cafeteria, at some point Tien would add one just to shut her up about it. Not to mention, it wasn't such a terrible idea. There weren't very many food options near the dojo out in the middle of nowhere. Even if the town itself was growing, the dojo sat apart from the town. One needed a car if they wanted to get to the shops in town in a reasonable amount of time.

It was midday when Vegeta arrived at the dojo. Tien was usually free around this time or at least not teaching a class. There were administrative duties he'd be taking care of or if he wasn't too busy he'd be in the practice hall giving students further instruction. This time, Vegeta found him in his office on the phone with someone clearly trying to set a date for something. He waited slightly impatiently for him to finish as he stood with crossed arms.

"Vegeta—long time no see. For a moment there, I thought you'd ditched me for good."

"You don't seem that bent out of shape about it."

"It was kind of surprising that you even agreed to help me in the first place. Didn't want to push my luck."

"Is it me or are there more people here? The practice hall looked crowded."

"People have been signing up in droves. Seems more people want to channel their aggression more…constructively."

"Does that really help, you think—with what's been happening with the pandemic?"

"Only time will tell."

"And what about you?"

"Well, nothing has happened to me so far," Tien said standing up. "I'm glad you're here though. Maybe if I do something regrettable, you could stop me. You said it doesn't affect Saiyans or anyone who isn't fully an Earthling."

"That could be an issue with the students as well."

"Hm, well, one step at a time," he said with a sigh as he looked out the window that had a view of the entrance. Vegeta noticed more people walking down from the parking lot. "We've had a few incidents while you were gone, but it was easily quailed. Having people who can defend themselves is quite helpful in this case. I think it might just be safer here than anywhere else. Not to mention, the increased presence of police patrolling has everyone on edge—it's probably just less nerve wracking being here. This could be going on for years since it doesn't affect everyone at the same time. I was thinking of having dorms here—a place to stay for the time being."

"A cafeteria?"

Tien glanced over at him with a grin. "Yes, actually. It really sounds like a good idea. But a lot more logistics and money would have to go into having food on hand and also having people to cook and serve it. But, I don't want to bore you with the details. I've also convinced Master Roshi, Yamcha, and even Mr. Popo to come down from his ivory tower to teach some exclusive classes."

"Master Roshi? How'd you manage that?"

"Let's just say that I've been able to leverage this pandemic to instill a sense of urgency. But I've been borrowing your reasons as well. The fact that Earth definitely still needs defenders wasn't something I thought about much until you brought it up. I just wanted to train for the sake of training. Anyways, I'm always on the lookout for more trainers especially since I can't possibly fit all these new students into a couple sessions each day. Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but you have an office as well."

"An office? Says the guy who wasn't concerned whether I stayed or left. I don't think I'll have need for all that."

"Do you want to still help me out?" Tien asked.

"Might as well. I have someone I wanted to bring here as well."

"Even better. Seems like it'd be convenient for you to stay here at least for a little while. Anyways, the office is yours whether you use it or not. Someone's even left you flowers. I would love to talk more, but I have a few calls to make. Would you excuse me?"

As if on cue, the phone started ringing and Vegeta left the man to his work. He hadn't mentioned where his office might be, but it was nearby. He noticed his name imprinted on a plaque outside the door and underneath: **Head Instructor**. _Hm, right._ Tien was taking quite a few liberties. It was clearly an official position. The thing he said he'd never be doing—being some sort of teacher or instructor—now he was doing just that. Bulma would be endlessly entertained by the fact that he might actually have a job. Vegeta wasn't entirely sure how these things worked on Earth, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

Once he stepped through the door, his nose quickly picked up on a sweet scent that reminded him of vanilla with fruity undertones almost like candy but much fresher than that. A small lavender well-polished vase held ample purple flowers that hung over the edges, bright and springy. The tag inside of the vase sticking out of the soil read that these were lilacs. Vegeta wasn't particularly familiar with flowers but he was adoring the light fragrance that now filled the office—he had no idea that flowers could smell like this. Who would send him such a thing? Who even knew that he had an office to send it to? A small plain white card sat next to it. Inside was a handwritten message; it was neat and incursive: _To a new beginning._ As he read it, Vegeta knew immediately who had sent it even if he hadn't signed it; Auden. Of course he somehow already knew about the office. Auden seemed like the kind of person who would thoroughly research a place before ever stepping foot in it.

His first instincts had been to just toss them when Tien had told him about it, but…it would be a shame to get rid of something that smelled so pleasant. It didn't escape him that the smell of musk and sweat was quite prevalent in the dojo. It was fine if it was his own, but now it was other people as well with their own unique brand of stench all mixing into one really foul smell that constantly permeated the air. No matter how well someone tried to clean the areas—the air itself would still be the culprit, lifting from tired, sweating people. Those horrid aerosol sprays that Bulma liked to use in the bathroom only made matters worse. While he'd dealt with far worse smells before, if given a choice, he'd rather not. The lilacs seemed to work far better than sprays to neutralize all the strong body odors, so he placed the shiny vase on the empty shelf towards the back of the small office. Hopefully, no one would notice or ask questions.

According to Tien, they were now dealing with an influx of students. This gave Vegeta some hope that he might be able to find a few diamonds in the rough. How rare were there people like Auden or even Malachi? With this strange pandemic taking a stranglehold on the world, the future seemed uncertain. The consequences would have to be dealt with, but at the very least they would all end up stronger for it.


	17. Meanwhile, In Other World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku stumbles upon a strange, new warrior.

Goku stepped onto the planet he had been seeking for quite some time. The gravity had already crushed down upon him, but he wasn't entirely cognizant of its force until he reached solid ground. Then he fell flat on his face and it took him more effort than anticipated to climb back to his feet. King Kai had warned him that this planet was smaller than his and had more mass. Though Goku hadn't been entirely sure what that meant, he now understood that the gravity was much greater. Perhaps that was why King Kai had suggested he find such a place to train on.

To most, the hefty gravity might have been more than a minor annoyance, but it was already filling him with excitement. It was a challenge, something he had to work at to conquer. Once more he had a purpose—a goal to strive for. For a while, he'd not had that. He'd defeated all the powerful warriors he could find in Other World, competed in the Grand Tournament countless times, and found that there were no challengers left, at least not in this universe. Now he could train to his heart's content, but he decided he would take his time and savor the challenge lest it disappear too quickly.

Goku decided he'd at least scout out the relatively small planet to see if there was anything of interest. So far, the planet reminded him a lot of King Kai's. There was pleasant weather—clear skies, subtle breeze, and bright green grass everywhere his eyes could see. As he traversed around the curve of the planet—now a bit more pronounced since there was less surface area—a small, bare tree seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was still yet in the distance and he was forced to move slowly because of the immense gravity. His curiosity was piqued when he could make out a singular figure sitting against its trunk.

A sleeping man, serene and seemingly untroubled sat against the tree. A halo floated atop his head. Goku didn't recognize him, but immediately he was wondering if he wasn't some sort of unknown warrior he had stumbled upon. His dark hair, long and flowing almost reached the ground in its length. The constant light breeze seemed to forever sway his hair back and forth. He was glowing, at least his skin seemed to have that attribute. Maybe he wasn't just a warrior but some deity that he hadn't heard of before. Goku didn't claim to know everything about Other World despite living there for so long. Every time he visited King Kai to bug him to death, he always endowed him with some other tidbit of information about this dimension that he hadn't known before. He only bothered remembering the most pertinent things and discarded many other details. How many other smaller planets were out there yet uninhabited? Which one of them had the greatest gravity? But a better question at this moment was why King Kai hadn't mentioned that there would be someone else here as well. Was it some sort of surprise? Or had King Kai simply not known?

Goku, without further ado, attempted to wake the strange man first by causing some racket with his voice. Then he approached the man further and yelled directly into his ear for good measure. Surely anyone would wake from that kind of disturbance. He parted his mouth to do it again when the man didn't respond accordingly but paused when the dark-haired man finally made some movement though it was only to turn his head away from him with an annoyed groan. Goku realized after another few minutes of making all the noise in the world that he was getting nowhere. The man wouldn't budge. Goku saw it as a challenge.

Then a thought came to him. He sought out a small rock which he found quickly enough. He stood a few feet from him and then threw it at him just to see if he'd get a reaction. However, that was easier said than done, considering the heaviness of the rock and the amount of force he'd have to put behind his throw for it to make a difference. In fact, it took him several attempts to finally throw it well enough. Perhaps it was part of training. Maybe this was some sort of test he had to pass. He had been aiming for the chest, but all within a split second, that same rock came flying right back at him again and it took tremendous effort on his part to move out of the rock's path. He hadn't been ready for that at all as he found himself crashing into the ground. When he finally managed to look up again, dark eyes were peering down at him with clear annoyance in them.

"So, did I pass?" Goku asked the man at once when he climbed back to his feet.

The man yawned and his expression became weary. "What are you going on about?"

"The test," Goku replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Aren't you like some sort of Kai? This gravity is something else on this planet—I've never felt anything like it."

"Small radius, more mass and density."

Goku looked at him questioningly as the man seemed to be uttering foreign language. "I think King Kai said something similar," he said uncertainly.

The man yawned again. "How about you do your odd little ritual a bit further away? I don't particularly fancy people yelling in my ear."

"Is that the next test?" Goku asked genuinely curious. "How do you do that ritual?"

The man sighed wearily, and he looked at Goku for only a moment with a raised eyebrow. It might have been confusion. It might have been him considering what his next test might be. "Walk until you no longer see this tree on the horizon. Then I want you to hop on one foot a thousand times consecutively. If you misstep, you have to start over again."

"Geez, you really don't pull any punches. Alright, I'll get right on it. My name's Goku, by the way."

"Malachi," the man said plainly before yawning again. He waved Goku away dismissively.

Goku had wanted to ask more questions, but he seemed to have fallen asleep again right before his eyes. He probably _wasn't_ asleep, Goku concluded. Maybe this was some quirk of his to throw people off. He'd have to ask King Kai exactly who this Malachi was later and why he'd never heard of him before. He seemed quite powerful.

Goku made his way across the planet until he could no longer see the tree and began in earnest. It was much easier said than done; Goku knew this already. The first five hops were torture, the next five was cruel and unusual punishment, anything else after was masochistic. The challenge was enthralling. Knowing that this might be impossible to do at the moment, made him go further and further. He spent an untold amount of time attempting to do this over and over again. The highest number he'd ever reached, with much huffing and puffing, was twenty. Then after the millionth attempt, or at least what felt like the millionth attempt, he fell onto the ground in complete exhaustion. He was utterly worn out and he couldn't move even one muscle without crying out in pain. In time, he was able to stand back up though with some difficulty. Slowly, he made his way back to Malachi despite not accomplishing his task. It would probably be a good idea to rest first before going for more rounds. In the meantime, he wanted to learn a bit more about this unknown deity.

When he came upon Malachi again, Goku found that he hadn't moved in the least. He wondered if the man had really been asleep the whole time. Before he tried to get his attention, Malachi awakened on his own to grace him once again with an annoyed expression. Not all deities were as friendly as King Kai, but it didn't matter as Goku treated them all the same.

"Back again so soon?" Malachi asked him wearily.

"Didn't quite reach the thousand—"

"You weren't even close," Malachi interrupted with a subtle grin.

Goku knew that he must be somewhat omniscient since Goku hadn't even physically seen him or sensed him anywhere nearby as he attempted the task at hand. "You got me there, but I'm starving now—you wouldn't happen to have some food around here, would you?"

The subtle grin hadn't left his face. "Maybe you should have thought about food before wasting your energy jumping around like an idiot."

"So," Goku began drawing out the word, "Is that a 'no' on the food?"

"That is a 'no'," Malachi confirmed. "Now will you leave me be? I've already had enough of your antics."

It was then that Goku felt as if he was definitely missing something vital about this situation. "Do you live here by yourself?" he asked. After all, what kind of person didn't have food around?

"I suppose I do. I'm always quite tired and you're disturbing my rest."

"Are you a warrior? I don't think I've heard of you before even though I've been in Other World for a long time now."

"I've heard of you," Malachi said wearily. "I wouldn't consider myself in the same vein, but I suppose I could defend myself should push come to shove."

"Well then, would you be up for a spar?"

Malachi sighed. "No. Sounds unnecessary."

"But wouldn't it be fun?" Goku asked energetically.

"No," Malachi said simply.

"But aren't you curious as to who you're training?"

That subtle grin came to his face again. It was then that Goku felt as if there was some joke he was missing. "Not at all."

"Are you sure?" Goku asked.

"I'm more than sure," Malachi reassured him.

"What if I keep asking the same question?"

"Well, that would annoy me."

"What if I still keep asking the same question?"

"Now you're starting something you probably shouldn't with a complete stranger."

Malachi appeared so confident about this that his subtle threat did more to encourage his need to spar with him. Maybe he'd give him a good challenge. Goku was well aware that Kais were more like teachers than actual fighters, but Malachi seemed like he was a bit more than that.

"Ah, c'mon, it won't be that bad—what will it hurt anyway? It's just a spar."

Malachi looked at him silently, but then Goku noticed a mischievous glint in his eyes. Immediately, Goku was wary. "How about this, Saiyan? If I spar with you, you teach me that Instant Transmission technique I know you're capable of doing at a moment's notice."

Goku honestly couldn't see the downside to this as he thought it over for a moment. "Alright, deal, but you have to promise to take this seriously."

Malachi climbed to his feet smoothly. "Oh, I promise."

"And also, it's not all that easy to teach that move. I've tried and failed to do it a lot of times in the past. It's just hard to explain."

"I can only imagine."

With this, Goku leaped back a few yards to give a respectable space between the two of them. A sudden bout of déjà vu struck him as he watched him move into his fighting stance—right arm held before his face with his fingers curled in a distinct fashion and his left arm held out beside him, bent backwards with hand fully clenched, his knees bent and spread apart, his center of gravity low. It took him a moment to realize that it was an exact replica of Vegeta's usual stance. Goku wondered if he was actually fighting a Saiyan—one that he had never seen before. It hadn't escaped him that he knew his race without him ever saying it aloud. Goku moved into his own stance and for the first time in what felt like ages, he felt a little tingle run down his spine, a mixture of fear and excitement.

Goku didn't say when to start, but it began in earnest when Malachi sped towards him, gliding across the field. When Goku stepped forth to land a punch he was launching, Malachi disappeared from his line of sight and then a sudden and intense pain spread through his back causing him to fall to his knees. The intenseness took him by surprise. What just happened? He cried out despite himself. By the time he looked up with gritted teeth, he felt the scorching heat of a ki blast, and he knew what was coming next. There was nothing else he could do in that moment other than to bear the pointblank explosion.

Goku realized that he hadn't even so much as seen Malachi for the full minute he was being bombarded with attacks. He still wasn't sure what the first attack had been—it felt far more sinister than a simple ki blast. Goku leaped back to his feet as quickly as he could and he paused, reaching out with his senses to figure out where he might attack. He looked behind himself when he sensed him there clearly. Only his peripherals caught any part of him and that was questionable.

"You move like an old man. Maybe you've been at this too long, Saiyan."

Goku looked up and finally caught a full sight of him. Sparing no seconds at all, Goku dashed upwards. He struck his fists out again and this time, he met flesh. Encouraged, he followed up with a flurry of fists and kicks all meeting their marks without any resistance. Quickly, he moved back expecting some sort of retaliation, yet it never came. Malachi stood before him, they were both levitating in midair and he wore an openly amused expression.

"So you're Earth's greatest defender," Malachi stated matter-of-factly. "I can't say I'm impressed. You disturbed my rest with this pitiful display. I will end this quickly."

Goku knew that he was a great deal slower than usual and that his opponent had a clear speed advantage. He was also just testing the waters in his base form trying to get a feel for him. Malachi could have lived here for a very long time and this gravity made no difference to him. How could someone who appeared like such a capable fighter have been so far under the radar? He wondered if he should ascend. He decided against it seeing as the other hadn't so much as powered up. Besides, this was a spar. With his speed advantage, if Malachi could match his output, it would be a waste of time. Still, he needed to do something.

Goku powered up somewhat as a spurt of clear energy sprang up around him and then he sped towards Malachi's waiting form. Just like when he first started, he was attacking the air, only seconds off from making contact. A fist slammed into his face, but he caught the very next one before it landed. Malachi pulled away aggressively—Goku must have surprised him. Goku unleashed a ki blast of his own towards Malachi. He sped towards him knowing that he was likely to evade him again. This time, he did not stop there, using his senses to locate him far quicker than he had before. In this way, he continually pursued Malachi, but it didn't last for long. Something stopped him in his tracks.

A massive force of energy slammed into him and he felt it slice through his flesh—straight through his left shoulder and then another force sliced through his right. It was so startling and instant that he could not stop himself from falling from the sky. Thankfully, it was a short ways to the ground as he hadn't been that far above it. Then he felt that same impact slam into him, piercing through his torso. He cried out pitifully—he'd never felt anything like it. The feeling of anything piercing through his body was utterly foreign and he grasped one of his shoulders now in momentary shock. It was bleeding profusely. What was this? What happened? He looked up when he heard footsteps. Malachi stood before him now with crossed arms.

"If this is a spar, I would hate to see what a serious fight looks like," Goku said still maintaining a good-natured tone.

Malachi seemed quite unamused by this and he remained silent. His eyes narrowed slightly. Within another split second, Goku felt what was likely a knee crash into his face with astonishing force and speed enough to send him flying back quite a few yards. Determinedly, Goku climbed back to his feet, but his hand still held one of his shoulders. He was feeling a bit weak by now. He was probably losing too much blood and he knew it was getting too dangerous to continue this fight in earnest. He looked behind himself sensing Malachi's unhurried approach.

"Alright, alright, you win—can we call a truce for now?" Goku asked. "Geez, this was just a spar, you know."

"You should run back to your little friends. I would hate to somehow be responsible for your death."

"King Kai is not that far away. Maybe you should join me—he always has food."

"I'd rather not."

"Well, a deal's a deal—I'll teach you that move."

Malachi looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head. "I'm no longer interested, Saiyan. You should leave since your life now depends on it and don't come back. I hope I've made that abundantly clear."

"But—

"There's plenty of other planets of even greater gravity of which you could train to your heart's content. I have no interest in humoring you any further and I will not be bated into another ridiculous fight with you. If you choose to ignore that, then I won't be so considerate next time."

Malachi took off into the air after this. "Wait!" Goku called out. Even if he could hear him, Goku doubted he'd acknowledge him.

He watched him leave wondering if he should follow or not. He thought better of it after a while. He pressed his index and ring finger to his head and then transmitted himself to King Kai's planet which wasn't too far away. His sudden presence on the planet just outside his house startled the Kai, but he quickly went to work healing him much to Goku's relief. He climbed back to his feet once his energy returned. He hadn't expected to fight such a perilous duel so arbitrarily.

"What in the world happened out there? I haven't seen you come back like this in a long time."

Goku looked at him with eyes alight with curiosity. "I found the planet you were talking about with all the gravity. When I got there, I saw this guy—maybe he's some kind of deity. Maybe you know him. His name's Malachi."

"Ah, Malachi," the short deity said after a moment of contemplation; he put his arms behind his back. "Yes, I know him. He's been keeping to himself these days. He's certainly not a deity," King Kai said with a hefty laugh, "Nothing of the sort."

Goku stared at him not completely wrapping his head around this.

"He's just a human who managed to get his body back a long time ago."

"So, he's some famous Earth warrior? I guess I haven't been back to Earth in a long time."

"His name popped up a lot in the past," King Kai remarked. "Apparently, when he first came here having died on Earth, he was sent to Hell and King Yemma sent him to prison. Now, that's not really a thing King Yemma likes to do with people going to Hell; it doesn't exactly help one purify themselves, but he got recommendation from a source he trusts. I'm guessing there's some perceived egregious thing he did while living. So he's in prison, but soon the people who live there find out about it. Hell can be a rowdy place at times. There's always someone stirring up trouble down there one way or another. I don't envy King Yemma's job of trying to keep peace and balance. Malachi was someone of some regard on Earth and people started to visit him—other people in Hell. Soon there were just hoards of Earthlings with nothing better to do, seeking him out just to see him, causing an uproar, disturbing the peace. Then Malachi was moved elsewhere, but the same thing occurred.

"Now, Malachi's not the first person like this to enter Hell and have so much popularity that it begins to disrupt the community. King Yemma just sends them to some obscure section of Hell to exist without causing trouble. So that's where he was for a long time. Then there was another uprising in Hell—it happens over and over again. People are in place who can deal with the more serious incidents, but that time, things became far more precarious. The opposition was far more organized. Quite a few of the enemies you fought on Earth in your latter years had joined forces along with many, many others. It was definitely something I kept up with at the time. Good warriors from Heaven had to come down and put an end to it—many of them lost their lives, but so did many of the masterminds behind the revolt."

"Hold on," Goku said cutting across him, "How come I wasn't _told_ about this? I've been here now for a long time."

"A few years at best, but you've done a great many things since then. When all this was happening, you were resting."

"Resting?" Goku asked puzzled.

"Supreme Kai said that you were still recovering."

This still didn't clear anything up and Goku continued looking at him with the same expression.

"You want me to finish this story or what?" King Kai asked in irritation, wanting to finish his train of thought.

"Okay, what happened next then," Goku said, letting the matter rest.

"Because of the losses, King Yemma started looking for help from unlikely places still trying to contain the problem and not having to rely on getting help from other dimensions. So he started recruiting denizens from Hell itself, claiming that if they fought against the tyrants that he'd give back their bodies. Sounds like a good deal on the surface, but most people didn't actually bite. You'd be putting your life on the line, potentially erasing your entire existence and never being reborn. Those people in Hell were ruthless especially to those who turned on them—they had a strong hold there. Eventually, word gets to Malachi. Most in his position probably would have just sat the whole thing out. Because he and many like him were so isolated from everything, they wouldn't be affected one way or another. In those prisons, they were trapped there and couldn't get out unless King Yemma allowed them. Likewise, no one could arbitrarily come in or even touch them. It's the perfect place to hide. But Malachi chose to fight. Many people say that when he joined the fight, that it was a turning point in the ongoing battles. Others say, it would have happened anyway. Good always wins, yadda, yadda. There's also a lot of safeguards in place to keep the denizens of Hell in that sector. Anyways, he joined and made himself very useful with tactics that many warriors from Heaven weren't exactly thrilled about. King Yemma had already stated that he wanted to put a stop to the ruckus by any means necessary and Malachi took that literally."

"What did he do?" Goku asked.

"Well, I was getting to that," King Kai answered in frustration—he hated being interrupted. "Malachi was utterly ruthless. He fought without regards to his opponent's life and he killed with surprising regularity. People might not have liked stooping to those levels, but he certainly wasn't the only one—he was simply the first, at least, on the side of good. Just like that as soon as they started to adopt this sentiment, order was eventually restored to Hell and, to be honest, it's been a whole lot quieter down there. True to his word, King Yemma gave him back his body and he was free to go wherever he pleased."

"So he just decides to stay on that planet by himself forever?" Goku asked.

"Not quite. There are other planets that are far more accommodating and habitable that he attempted to settle on, but his exploits preceded him. Even though King Yemma gave him his body back, no one liked the things he'd done while in Hell. Like I said, he wasn't the _only_ one, but because he was the first, the perception became that he was the sole reason for it. Not that he was kicked out forcibly, but the way Malachi put it, the environment wasn't exactly welcoming. He did come to my planet, at some point. Top notch comedian—I offered to train him, but he said he wasn't interested. I said he could stay here, but he also declined that. He just wanted some place away from everyone else. _That's_ when I told him about the smaller planets with gravity that were virtually uninhabitable to those who wanted to live comfortably. I told him, it would probably kill him instantly if he went there at that point. I ended up training him to some extent, at least just to build up his tolerance to intense gravity. Then, after that, I hadn't seen him since."

"Wait, so you knew he was there when you told me about that place?"

King Kai could only smile. "Perhaps. It's not good to be so isolated for that long of a time period. I don't think anyone's sanity is cut out for it—why do you think I have my two companions here with me?"

"To bounce jokes off of?" Goku asked.

King Kai snickered a little. "No, it's so I'm not stuck in my head all day. Talking long distance with people all the time takes its toll after a while. I had no idea your visit would turn out like it did. I'm guessing you asked him to spar with you."

"Yeah, I did, but I could tell immediately that he wasn't really into it. Then it seemed like he wanted to learn Instant Transmission. Then later he just wasn't interested anymore. One thing was clear though, he definitely doesn't want me to come back. I think, it's like you said before, he just wants to be alone. He seemed tired."

"That's not good," King Kai said after a moment, "Not good at all."

"What do you mean? What's wrong with him?"

"I want you to go back there—if it's not too much trouble—I understand you have all the time in the world on your hands and you like challenges."

"Sure, I can do that. The gravity there really is intense. You trained him and then he could just handle the gravity there just like that?"

"I just made it so he wouldn't be crushed immediately. I'm sure he was even worse off than you when he first went there. But he sparred with you today, I'm sure he's improved."

"By a lot," Goku agreed. "I wonder if I could get him to spar with me again."

"Oh, I forgot—you're a glutton for punishment," King Kai said turning now to walk back to his small house.

Goku followed him knowing that he would likely have food there. By now, King Kai knew his habits well and figured out long ago to have a lot of food stocked whenever he came around. It was a day like any other that ended much the same. Gregory and Bubbles who had been roaming the small planet joined them as well.

* * *

Once Goku was fully restored, he returned to that planet without delay. It was the one thing that had remained on his mind, an anomaly which had piqued his interest. There was, of course, the draw of a good fight possibly occurring, but there was also the possibility of making a new friend. He had plenty of them to be sure. He'd ventured to many other planets housing the great warriors of old and he'd taken to them instantly. He was a bit of a nomad, traveling from one place to another always seeking a worthy opponent, always wanting to test his limits. He amassed quite a bit of skill and power in that time. Malachi showed promise, but so did many, many others. He wondered how much of a challenge he could get out of him seeing as he was human and not a Saiyan or deity as he had originally assumed. Malachi had a clear advantage and he'd had no qualms using it to its utmost. At the very least, he was a capable strategist.

Goku found Malachi exactly where he'd left him last time. He did not lie against the old tree, but upon the ground on his side. His hair now obscured his face and he looked just as deeply asleep. Goku had quite some trouble waking him. He shook him and then called out his name loudly until he finally responded. Malachi, of course, was none too happy, but he supposed things could have gone far worse.

Malachi groaned with displeasure as he turned away from him. "You again—I should have known."

"Thought you might like the company." Goku sat cross-legged now beside his lying form.

"I wouldn't."

"I didn't come to ask for a spar," Goku said further. "And sorry for mistaking you for a Kai of some sort, but you never corrected me."

"Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought," he said just as he yawned. "How did you come to that conclusion in the first place?"

"You were by yourself on this planet and you'd have to be pretty strong to live here so casually. I don't think I would have ever jumped to the conclusion that someone's just willingly decided to exile themselves from everyone else. Are you some sort of hermit?"

"Perhaps that is an apt description."

"But why be here by yourself? Doesn't it get boring?"

"Well, you interrupted a glorious dream of mine, one where I imagined myself still living in days long past. It doesn't happen very often and when I inevitably wake up again, I remember how I could never return to that, I remember that my own weaknesses are the sole reason for that."

"You're talking about your time here or when you were on Earth?" Goku inquired.

Malachi sighed and then finally sat up, pushing his hair back out of his face. He didn't seem nearly as irritated as he had last time. "Earth, of course," he said wearily as he looked at him with solemn eyes. "Being here has been nothing more than a bad dream, completely divorced from what I considered reality. Heaven, supposedly a paradise seems so devoid of love and compassion. Could this really be it?"

"Well, you don't stay here forever. Eventually, you're reborn."

"Eventually," Malachi said. "Whatever that means. Not that it matters. You cease being the person you were, once they wipe your memory—it's like you're a new person altogether."

"That's the point of being reborn," Goku said.

"Yes, I understand that, but it's no more satisfying. Death is one thing. Complete elimination of everything you know yourself to be, is something else."

"Everything must end, eventually. That's what I've always known," Goku replied simply.

"And when will that ever happen for you, Saiyan? You've chosen to live here permanently, it seems, where time does not exist or at least, it doesn't age you as it would elsewhere. You could continue on for an eternity, never worried about things ending."

"I never thought of it like that, but yeah, I guess you're right. But I'm not afraid of it. I welcome it. I could have all those adventures again and it'll feel like the first time."

Malachi shook his head again. "Or you're not born a Saiyan and you don't meet the same people or have the same experiences. You could be born into a life in which you struggle physically and emotionally until you die utterly unfulfilled and having not accomplished anything you set out to do."

"That sounds…"

"Depressing," Malachi finished, "And yet it is entirely possible. Maybe it has already happened. How would we know after all?"

"Is that what happened to you? You died before you could do everything?"

"I accomplished a lot. I can't say I'm completely unsatisfied with how it turned out. I just wish I was back there again. I hate it here, this supposed paradise."

"But you weren't always here in Heaven, were you?"

Malachi shook his head once. "No. It was such a startling change when I found myself here, that I was sort of in shock for most of the beginning. I was just in a line for what felt like an eternity and I had no idea what to think. No one told me anything. I didn't know what I was waiting for, but something told me I had to stay in line or else. Strange looking people—now I know them as ogres—would walk around to make sure everything was orderly, shouting on their megaphones. I was no longer myself, but something else. It was very disconcerting."

"I think I always skipped over that part when I died. Kami escorted me there the first time and I always had my body."

"I see. How fortunate for you. Likely because you were a powerful warrior of some regard by then. I, however, was not. Once I arrived before King Yemma, he deliberated for a short while. He received a recommendation from Dende as to what should be done with me and he did exactly that—he held Dende in high regards. I soon found myself in a very dark place. Only the light coming through the bars gave me any sense as to where I was. He'd sent me to Hell, of course, but I had no idea what that would be like. I'm glad it was nothing like how I imagined it to be. I expected to be thrown into a pit of fire and to be in agony for eternity. This was far kinder."

"How long were you down there?" Goku asked.

"I couldn't exactly count down the days. Besides, I was still this amorphous entity and I wasn't making full sense of everything happening around me. I felt discarded and abandoned. I felt like I no longer wanted to exist. I only had myself to keep me company. Perhaps I deserved that. Not too long after, I was confronted with strange, foreign memories that, at first, made no sense to me. Why was I seeing these things? But the longer I was privy to them, the more I realized that these were my own. It was so long ago, it felt like another lifetime. It felt like the experiences of a different person. How had I forgotten it? At the time, I couldn't quite piece it together, but I've had all the time in the world to figure it out. It's really quite nice to not have such gaps in my memories, ones I did not know I had in the first place. It was not at all pleasant, however, regaining those lost memories."

His gaze intensified and then he looked elsewhere. He seemed lost in thought and Goku decided to draw him back out. "What were they about—your memories?" Goku asked, figuring this was the best way to gain his attention.

"Oh, sorry," Malachi said with a start as he looked at him again. It was a phrase Goku didn't think would ever come from him, but it seemed natural. "I doubt it would matter to you, Saiyan. You came here for a spar, but for some reason you've elected to deny that fact. I'm sure you don't want to hear me ramble on and on."

"Well, you're definitely not as annoyed as last time."

"Last time, you thought I was someone I wasn't and you wanted me to train you. Today, you've seemed to have gained some sense."

"King Kai told me about you."

"Oh, did he? You're friends with him? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You're practically a celebrity around here. Goku, the legendary warrior."

"People get carried away sometimes. I just like finding a good challenge and improving my skills—there's nothing like finding someone who not only matches your skills but surpasses them. I need that kind of challenge to improve myself. I thought I'd found someone like that when I came here. Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"I can hardly call myself a warrior. Like I said before, I could defend myself if I needed to, but lately it feels as if my interest in most things have faded."

"Is that why you want to be here by yourself? Is that why you sleep all the time?"

"Yes, I suppose that sums it up."

"Why don't you come back with me to King Kai's place? He's been asking about you. I think he's worried."

"Worried," Malachi repeated with a raised eyebrow. "That's ridiculous," he said with an exasperated sigh, "I don't want to be the cause for anyone's worry. I'll simply tell him I'm fine so he can stop wasting his time and energy."

This bothered him more than Goku had anticipated. He was someone who wanted to be left alone. Would it be so much of a stretch to also assume that he didn't want to be remembered or thought of by anyone as well? He wanted his existence to be of no consequence to anyone. He wanted to be forgotten completely. Goku wondered what that would accomplish if that was the case.

"Alright then," Goku said as he stood up, "I'll take you to him. All you gotta' do is put your hand on my shoulder."

Malachi looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language, then realization came to him. "Ah, Instant Transmission."

"You'd be right," Goku replied.

Malachi soon, though with some reservation, stood and placed a hand on his shoulder and in the snap of a finger, they were transmitted to King Kai's planet. Goku wasn't altogether certain that this was what King Kai had wanted specifically, but he had seemed concerned about Malachi's wellbeing. What better way to make sure he was fine than to see him in person? Goku hadn't even expected for things to get this far. The way Malachi had been acting yesterday—he expected a short, curt conversation and to be sent on his way.

King Kai, on his part, was only a little startled of Goku's abrupt entrance. Even after all this time, he still wasn't completely used to it. Then again, Goku rarely ever warned him that he was coming. This was one of those times. But even more startled was Malachi himself who was looking around himself in amazement.

"That's just incredible," Malachi said with muted astonishment. "You could pretty much travel anywhere you want."

"Unless it's really, really far away—then it might take a little time."

"And when you say really, really far away, I'm assuming it's places where it would be impossible to gain access using standard modes of transportation otherwise."

"Yeah," Goku said thoughtfully, "Like all the way on the other side of the universe or was it galaxy—one of those."

"Both of those are unfathomably distant either way. I'm impressed," Malachi replied with a grin.

"Glad to see you again after all this time," King Kai said stepping forth towards them. He'd been speaking to Malachi.

Malachi regarded him with a brief nod. "Likewise, your highness."

"Oh, you don't have to bother with formalities. Hardly anyone does," King Kai said with a laugh.

"I've noticed, but how else am I going to show you respect? Besides, I know you secretly like that."

"No, seriously, he's totally fine without all that. I call just him King Kai all the time," Goku explained.

Malachi glanced at him before returning his gaze to the short deity. "Where are my manners?" he said as if in spite of Goku. He bowed deeply to the North Kai.

King Kai laughed off Malachi's antics, but his laughs were a bit more high-pitched than normal. "You're not even five minutes into visiting me and you've already passed the first test."

"As I recall, that's pretty easy to do. I can't imagine anyone finding it difficult."

"I get all kinds of people here," King Kai answered, "And you wouldn't believe the kind of personalities some of them have."

"I've met a few stoic fighters before," Malachi said, "I suppose that has its own merits."

"I meet them all the time on Grand Kai's planet," Goku added, "Everyone's really focused on training all the time."

"But it's no fun to work with. Let all the serious people go there, if they're so inclined," King Kai said back. "Speaking of which, Malachi, you wouldn't happen to have another joke for me, would you?"

"Well, your Highness, you're really putting me on the spot—I'm still surprised you were so taken with the last one. It was pretty bad."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"Okay," Malachi said with a sigh. "Alright, well, maybe you'll like this one too. It's just as terrible as the last."

Malachi could hardly keep a straight face, Goku noticed. This was still the same guy who had nearly killed him just yesterday. Of course, Goku held no gripes with the man, but he certainly had a wide range of emotions. He still couldn't determine if he'd make for a good sparring partner despite King Kai showing obvious interest in him. Goku waited almost impatiently for the other to continue, but he paused and procrastinated longer claiming how silly and old it would be and that maybe he'd heard it before.

"A ham sandwich walks into a bar and orders a beer," Malachi began—King Kai was already snickering. Goku had to admit that picturing a sandwich doing anything other than being eaten was comical—maybe that was the whole thing, but Malachi continued. "Bartender says 'sorry, we don't serve food here'."

It flew right over Goku's head, at least for the time being, as King Kai burst out into a fit of laughter. Malachi was clearly amused by the other's reaction. "Hey, I don't get it," Goku said despite himself. It had all happened far too quickly.

"Ah, it's already bad—explaining it would make it worse," Malachi said, "Don't worry about it—it's really not important."

"Hold on, I need to get something," King Kai said as he turned.

Goku's attentions turned to King Kai as he made his way back inside. Seconds later he came back out holding a rectangular glass bottle. He'd seen it many times before on display in the small house, but only with passing interest. A large stick stuck out of the bottle and stretched the entire length of it. It's width very nearly matched that of the bottle's neck. Two holes near the bottom of the thick wooden stick was occupied with a metal pin and the other—on the hole above it—with a screw and a nut to tighten it into place. A single wooden ball moved freely on the bottom. King Kai handed this strange contraption to Malachi who accepted it graciously though with some confusion.

"I guess bottles are always useful no matter what they happen to have in them," Malachi said as he studied it. The ball moved about the bottom with a "ting" as it hit the glass surroundings. He turned the stick on its axle back and forth a little and pulled it up and down as far as it could go. The screw and nut stopped it each time.

"It's a puzzle," King Kai explained. "It's possible to remove everything out of it and it's also possible to put everything back in just the way it is."

"Really?" Malachi asked as he turned it over in his hand. "That seems rather difficult," he said slowly as he continued to turn the bottle this way and that.

"Do you think you can do it?" King Kai asked.

"Well, perhaps, if I had enough time. It looks doable. May I?"

"Well, I just gave it to you. It's a gift. Take all the time you need," King Kai said.

"Yeah, that's right," Malachi said laughing softly.

Goku looked at the bottle a little closer, noticing all the objects inside and the obstructions. It seemed a bit impossible to do—maybe it was some elaborate joke that he didn't quite understand. There was really only one way that Goku could think of at the moment. Malachi had already begun finagling with the stick though it didn't seem he was doing much. The ball continued to move about, and the stick continued to be impossible to remove. After he'd turned the bottle at every conceivable angle, Goku was already getting bored with the whole thing. King Kai, on his part, had already made his way back into the house.

"Any ideas?" Goku asked him as he continued to play with the bottle.

"Maybe. Not yet," he said back though in a tone that suggested that he was preoccupied. "But, there's so many pieces, the ball, the pin, the nut, the screw, the stick, the bottle itself. It can't be too hard as there's only a finite space, a finite combination of ways to use the pieces, and finite relationships to each component."

"That's true," Goku said slowly. "Or you could just break the bottle. Maybe that's the trick. The one least expected."

"I see. You think I'm being misled into thinking there is a solution when there isn't."

"Exactly," Goku said.

"Only, he didn't say that. He specifically said that these items could be placed back in again. You can't place them back into a completely shattered bottle unless he honestly thinks I'm going to sit around and glue them back together. I'm bored, but not _that_ bored. Would he really do something like that?"

"Ummm," Goku said as he thought back on all the times he spent with King Kai. He was a pretty straightforward person. Though he did like a good joke, he wasn't exactly into tricking people. "Seems unlike him," he said finally after a while.

"Then I'm going to assume that it isn't that sort of trick," Malachi said as he sat down on the ground, making himself comfortable. "It would be quite disappointing otherwise."

Goku watched him for a while and then sighed exasperatedly. That could probably take all day. He wondered what the purpose of it was. He'd never seen King Kai give something away like that. There had to be an ulterior motive. Or maybe he really did like being called 'your Highness'.

"You know, it's strange," Malachi said breaking the ensuing quiet. "You can go wherever you like and yet you never choose to go back to Earth—at least, as far as I know."

"It's safer that way," Goku explained. "Earth was always in peril when I lived there and some of it might have been my fault. My enemies would want revenge and hurt so many other people in the process."

"So you think if you eliminate yourself from the equation, Earth is no longer afflicted with danger."

"Well, not entirely, but it would definitely mean less trouble."

"But what is less trouble and what is more?" Malachi asked.

Goku looked at him confused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Does less trouble mean the Earth being on the verge of complete annihilation a little less often?"

"Well, yeah," Goku replied.

"Then the difference is negligible, don't you think? It becomes a non-reason especially if your goal is to actually save Earth. That's like saying your home will be bombed a bit less, however it will still happen and when it does, you won't be there to help anyone fix it. In this case, however, good luck trying to 'fix' Earth once it's destroyed."

"It's not like that," Goku explained further. "There are people who live there that are more than capable of defending Earth in my stead."

"You mean, Vegeta?" Malachi questioned.

"Yeah—hey, how do you know him?"

"Our paths crossed once upon a time. He trained me."

"What?!" Goku exclaimed incredulously. This caused even Malachi to pause in his tinkering and glance up at him albeit with a raised eyebrow. "How did you manage that? I can't see him ever agreeing to training some random person. But that totally explains yesterday when you fought me—I thought it was my imagination, but the way you fought reminded me of him."

It could also be the reason King Kai wanted to train him. He must be special somehow, Goku concluded, though he couldn't see anything especially remarkable about him. He was a decent fighter—a ruthless one at that, but that didn't exactly mean he also had a lot of skill. Now that he knew he'd received training from someone he respected, it did change his opinion of him somewhat. What were the chances that he'd stumble upon someone who happened to have some relation to the same circle of friends on Earth? It was a tightknit group and they didn't let just anybody into it. Bulma always saw to that. Goku was quite lax in that regard; he had been preoccupied with training and fighting.

"I was dating his only daughter," Malachi replied, "And he's quite protective of her."

"Dating?" Goku said a bit puzzled.

"Yes, dating," Malachi confirmed.

"But…what is that?" Goku asked, "Is that something you guys do together?"

"Uh, yeah," Malachi said with uncertainty in his tone. "It's what you do when you really like someone, and you want to have a future with them or something along those lines. Am I really explaining what 'dating' is to you? Didn't you live on Earth? I met your _granddaughter_."

"Oh, you did?" Goku asked interested. "How was she?"

"She's a very strong and capable woman and thankfully not as clueless as you are."

"That sounds just like her. I only knew her for a short while, but even with that, I knew she'd be a lot like Chi-Chi."

"If you're so interested, why don't you go and visit her from time to time?"

"It's like I said before," Goku replied, "It wouldn't be a good idea, not for Earth."

For a while, he heard the "tink" of the ball hitting the glass and the stick being moved around. Malachi seemed to be pressing the ball into the top corner and pushing the nut up against it. It still didn't look like he was making much progress.

"I miss them," Malachi said after a while. "I miss all of them. Every time I think about them, my family..." He let the sentence rest and then continued with a new thought. "I don't know how you do it."

"I'll see them all again eventually," Goku said. "Earth has been at peace for a long time—that's what King Kai told me. Me being there would only ruin all that."

"Right," Malachi said quietly. "I wonder if I knew how to do that move of yours, if I'd be able to go back. Would that be against some unspoken law?"

"Maybe if you got King Yemma's permission it would be okay, but it would probably be for only a short while like a week or so."

"That makes sense. It wouldn't be fair to just let people live again arbitrarily. King Yemma would have no reason to grant me permission either."

"I could vouch for you."

"You really have that much sway with him?"

"Well, I've helped him out a few times and we're pretty good friends."

"Friends in high places," Malachi said with a chuckle. "Well, of course, for the likes of you—the great and legendary Saiyan warrior breaking untold amounts of records and levels."

"I just like a good challenge," Goku said back, "And I like helping people, if I can."

"How nice," Malachi replied.

"Baba could do it too, if you ask nicely. I bet King Kai could get in contact with her. She's a witch on Earth and really, really old."

"Another friend of yours?" Malachi asked. "Very convenient. I'm guessing that would also only be for a short while. Nothing permanent."

"Nothing permanent," Goku confirmed. "I came back one time for the tournament and I got to meet my other son. It was nice meeting him for the first time."

"My hands are getting a bit sweaty," Malachi said to himself as he put the bottle down and wiped his hands on himself. Goku couldn't understand why he was still bothering with the bottle, but he seemed very determined. "I don't belong there, it seems. Seeing her for just a moment would be more like torture. What if she's already moved on and I come back for a brief moment to remind her just to make it that much worse. I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Maybe if you came back for an event and not just for that one person, it wouldn't be so bad," Goku suggested.

Malachi shook his head at this. "No matter how you spin it, it would be the same. After all this time, I can't believe I'd be more excited about anything other than seeing her again. I hope she has moved on or found happiness somehow. I have to believe she hasn't been suffering for this long. I mean, why would she—a woman like that, beholden to some guy like me."

"You probably know her better than me. If she's anything like Vegeta, then she's fine. I just can't get over the fact that Vegeta actually trained you—is that how you died?" Goku asked in all seriousness.

Malachi chuckled at this. "Not quite. It wasn't like it was years of training. I really only got an introduction from him and he wasn't as brutal as I thought he would be. He gave me a lot to work with—a good foundation: ki control, endurance training, and fighting habits. I took it from there. Tien taught me as well."

"Tien too? You got the best of both worlds. Let's see, I was trained by Master Roshi, Mr. Popo, King Kai and even Grand Kai eventually. Then I learned things in bits and pieces from other people who lived in Other World. And I trained a great deal on my own."

"I see—a regular trainaholic. I was interested only in becoming stronger in the beginning, but Vegeta was teaching me how to fight and I found that I liked that—the inherent danger, figuring out someone's weaknesses and exploiting them, not really knowing how a given duel might end. The risks were far too great for one who could die so easily, but that was what I liked the most. Bra hated it for good reason. That wasn't why I died, surprisingly enough."

"Was it because of old age then?"

"No, it's because of what I am—a human—and I had my own issues that I never dealt with. I wonder how it was when they found me. Bra must have been so angry seeing that." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm not really sure how exactly I died, but I know my doctor had been there administering the drugs. I couldn't do it myself otherwise…Well, I thought it would be safer if he was there. I guess it wasn't. I shouldn't have…I don't know why I did that. I keep thinking about it over and over again. I was just being stupid, but the state I was in—I don't think I was capable of making a rational decision. And he warned me that it wasn't a good idea to take those specific drugs, but he also didn't have any other suggestions. I just wanted to sleep because I hadn't been doing that very well for months. I know it sounds silly, but not getting enough of that or none at all was really taking its toll on me. I couldn't really function well at all. Everything was…Well, it's hard to explain. I felt trapped like I was in a waking nightmare that continued on and on and on. I'd be lying if I said I never thought of suicide. I didn't want that, but it was something I couldn't stop thinking about. Turns out, I did it anyways. Unintentional or not. I can't even say for certain if it was really unintentional or somewhere deep down I wanted it to happen."

Goku looked down when he heard the sound of tiny objects hitting the ground. His eyes widened at the sight—Malachi had done it. He'd emptied the bottle and they all laid separately on the grass. He hadn't even been paying attention that closely. What exactly had he done? "How did you do that? That's incredible." He studied the pieces now wondering if he could spot something that would explain how he was able to do it.

"Magic," Malachi said wearily, "Not that it matters. The hard part is putting it back in exactly as it was."

Goku noticed that the other wasn't nearly as enthused as he was. He'd never been good at reading people's moods, but he doubted that the bottle had anything to do with it. He hadn't really been following what he was saying, but his tone had become solemn and it had something to do with drugs. He'd died, it seemed, not from old age or battle, but by something of his own doing. Feeling trapped in a nightmare sounded quite unpleasant. He couldn't imagine experiencing that for days on end.

Goku watched him place the pieces back together but outside of the bottle and he did so deliberately slow and then for a long while, he simply gazed at the configuration. "How are you going to put it back in?" Goku asked as the silence stretched. He decided to sit down as well.

"Slowly," Malachi offered, "I have an idea. I'm just trying to see if it would work. Seeing it like this helps."

Goku watched as Malachi undid and redid the configuration many times over on the ground. Then Goku laid on his back in boredom. "Well, at least you got your body back."

"When I was given the choice, I wanted it so badly. I thought if I could only have that, things would be better."

"Are things better?" Goku asked.

"They're not. I don't know why I'm here—in Heaven, I mean. It was better before when I was in Hell. That's what I deserve. It was fitting that I had no choice in the matter. That was shitty, but…it made sense. Not being able to escape, always seeking refuge but never finding it—that makes sense. I was confronted with myself, the part which I've ignored for so long, even denied its existence. I don't belong here, but circumstances allowed it anyway. I've done nothing of consequence ever since. I plan to keep it that way."

Goku watched the clouds pass overhead as he silently mulled over his words. "But isn't that boring?"

"At first, but now I feel so tired all the time. Days seem to slip by without me even knowing. All I do is dream about things that could have happened, about things that did happen, about things that make no sense at all. You, of course, had to rudely interrupt that. It was quite jarring."

"Sorry about that, but it's not good to be so idle."

"I know," Malachi said with a sigh.

"Then you'll spar with me again, one day?"

"No."

"Ah, c'mon!" Goku whined, "Maybe after King Kai trains you?"

"Trains me? Who said anything about me agreeing to such a thing?" Malachi asked with some annoyance. "Finished."

It took Goku a moment to realize what Malachi was referring to, but when he did, he sat up and saw that the bottle was indeed put back into its original state. "Geez, you must be some sort of magician."

Malachi held the bottle up showing some pride in his accomplishment. A subtle smile graced his face.

"No," King Kai's voice said from nearby as he stepped back out of the house, "But I'd say he shows a good amount of ingenuity. I've always had my suspicions. Looks like I still have a good eye for that kind of thing."

"Was this some sort of test?" Malachi asked wearily.

"I knew it!" Goku exclaimed excitedly, "So you're going to train him?" he asked King Kai.

Malachi stood up at this. "Goku, would you be so kind as to take me back? I think I'm done here. You can have your bottle back, your Highness."

"I gave it to you," King Kai said stubbornly, "And I'm not in the habit of taking back gifts."

"Well then, if you insist, fine, I'll keep it, but that doesn't mean I agree to being trained. Honestly, I don't know why you would waste your time."

"It's not for you to question my motives. But it's for your own good ultimately. Why do you think you're so tired all the time?"

"I don't know," Malachi said exhaustedly.

"It's been a very long time since I've seen it myself, but it is possible to fade away completely out of existence without any external influences. Your form will eventually lose all energy and then disappear. As that time grows nearer, you become persistently tired as you are now and then one day never wake up. Though it is a very peaceful way to die and very few people manage it as it takes many years, I don't want that to happen. It would be a waste. You couldn't be reborn again. The life that you lived would be the last one you ever will."

"Maybe it's better that way. I'm not sure if I'd want to do life over again even if it might be better next time. I've already done it before and maybe many times before. I doubt deciding not to do that anymore wouldn't really matter to anyone—

"What about Bra?" King Kai asked.

"What about her? I'm sure she's doing fine."

"You'd never be able to meet her again. You know that one day she'll die as well."

"What kind of person do you think I am? Hoping that someone I love so dearly dies having never moved on and having never found anything else of substance in her life so much so that she would run right back into my arms as if nothing ever happened. I expect her to find happiness elsewhere. I'm not waiting for her and I hope she's not waiting for me. Whatever we had is long gone."

"But what if you could be revived permanently?"

"After so long? I don't belong there anymore. I've been debating with myself for some time, but I think it would be better if I could stay where I was before in Hell."

King Kai approached Malachi until he stood only a few inches in front of him. "You don't belong there. I've read your files. The check-in station has a detailed report of every single spirit that comes through the door. Were it not for Dende's recommendation, King Yemma would have undoubtedly let you into Heaven with your body intact, but he never read it fully. It's not rocket science what he does. Every single spirit that comes there has both good and evil and his job is to decide which one does the person lean towards the most and for you, for all your shortcomings and mistakes, you lean towards good and you were instrumental in saving Earth from certain destruction. Laputa has destroyed many, many worlds before, but you successfully fought against its control and you were the only one to befriend it and help it find peace. He's in Heaven. Why do you think you shouldn't be?"

"Because…because…" Malachi was at a loss of words and he appeared quite caught off guard.

With the power of telekinesis, King Kai forced him to sit down so that that they were at similar levels. "You're going to let me train you because I haven't seen someone with so much mental prowess step foot on my planet for ages and it would be a monumental waste if it's never put to any use whatsoever. Now do you agree?"

"I…"

"Do you agree, Malachi," King Kai repeated.

The short deity stepped back a little when Malachi didn't respond immediately. It took Goku a moment to realize that the other was crying. His head was bowed and the soft part of his palm was pressed firmly against his face as tears steadily rolled down his face. Goku didn't know what to make of it. He looked from King Kai to Malachi knowing that he'd missed something once again.

"Fine, I'll do it," Malachi managed to say with a surprisingly steady voice, "If you insist."

"Good. Maybe one day you'll forgive yourself and stop blaming yourself for every single thing that didn't go right in your life." Malachi looked up at him as he spoke. "For now,"—King Kai took out a small clear plastic ball with multiple strings and colors stretched through it, settling on the surface of the ball on each side of the string with a cone-shaped face—"I want you to bring all four colors together without getting the strings inside tangled." He placed the strange clear ball on the ground before the sitting Malachi.

His eyes were red rimmed as he observed the ball and took it into his hands. Much like the bottle, he studied it slowly. With this, King Kai took his leave, but this time he made his way over to the red car he had in the driveway.

"King Kai never had me do this kind of thing when he trained me," Goku commented.

Malachi sniffled a bit before speaking again. "I can't imagine why not," he said as he began to move the cone-shaped heads around. He soon laid down flat on the ground on his back and continued in this way. "But I do love puzzles. I could probably do this all day," he said distantly.

"Well, good luck with that. And when you're done with King Kai's training, we should spar again."

Malachi sighed at this. "I'd hardly be a match for you, Saiyan. I think for now I'll just focus on this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This will be probably one of the worst Christmas's I've had and that's saying something for me. Funds are low. Won't be seeing certain family members because they're currently trying to get tested for the virus due to being exposed at work plus people don't have health insurance...I'm just trying to distract myself with writing. I would write some Christmas themed chapter, but it would probably be a depressing one and I'm just not in the mood. With that said:
> 
> Enjoy and Happy Holidays, everyone.


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